Nov. 20, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind.–The quarterfinal matchups for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship are set and another seeded team has fallen, as Portland posted a 1-0 win Sunday at 2nd-seeded Washington while 6th-seeded UCLA claimed the final spot with a 4-0 victory over visiting Texas A&M.
Portland advances to the quarterfinals for the sixth time and will face 7th-seeded Penn State, with that game to be played at PSU (1:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 25). UCLA also will play on Nov. 25, at 3rd-seeded Clemson (7:00 p.m. EST).
Top-ranked Notre Dame (22-0-1) will face familiar foe Santa Clara in a Friday, Nov. 24 quarterfinal (7:00 p.m EST) while the other quarterfinal will feature Connecticut at 5th-seeded North Carolina (2:00 p.m. EST, Nov. 24).
Three of the top eight seeds-UW, Nebraska and California-failed to advance to the quarterfinal round, with three traditional powers (UConn, SCU and UP) pulling off the upsets.
The eight quarterfinalists include six returners from 1999 (Nebraska and Hartford failed to return to the final eight) while Portland and UCLA both were quarterfinalists in 1998.
The eight remaining teams have combined to make 64 trips to the quarterfinals: UNC (19, 1st in NCAA history), UConn (15, 2nd), SCU (9, 4th), ND (7, 6th), UP (6, 8th), Clemson (3), PSU (3) and UCLA (2).
The quarterfinals will include two teams each from the BIG EAST Conference (ND and UConn) the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC, Clemson) and the West Coast Conference (SCU, UP), plus one each from the Big Ten (PSU) and the Pacific-10 (UCLA).
The wild 2000 women’s soccer season has yielded just one unbeaten team out of 271 (Notre Dame), no teams with one loss and only one team-eliminated Nebraska-with two losses and no ties (UW suffered its third loss on Sunday). Penn State and Clemson have the next-best records, each with two losses and one tie.
NCAA Women’s Soccer Quarterfinal Schedule
Friday, Nov. 24
Connecticut at #5 seed North Carolina (2:00 p.m.)
Santa Clara at #1 seed Notre Dame (7:00 p.m.)
Saturday, Nov. 25
Portland at #7 seed Penn State (1:00 p.m.)
#6 seed UCLA at #3 seed Clemson (7:00 p.m.)
* SCU-ND winner faces UConn-UNC winner in NCAA semifinals (Friday, Dec. 1 at San Jose’s Spartan Stadium).