The Ashland University women's soccer team learned on Monday (Nov. 17) evening that it received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region. The announcement was made live on the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Selection Show on NCAA.com.
The Eagles (14-4-1) will play No. 5 seed McKendree on Friday (Nov. 22) in Allendale, Mich. Kickoff time for the game will be announced later. The region's No. 1 seed Grand Valley State will play No. 8 seed and GLVC Tournament champion Southern Indiana in the bracket's other game.
The winner of the four-team bracket will advance to the Midwest Region final the first weekend of December. That will be held at the site of the top remaining seed in the Central Region.
It is the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance for the AU women's soccer program and the second straight under head coach Taylor Clarke. Last season, the Eagles were the No. 7 seed and fell to No. 2 seed Ohio Valley in the first round in Big Rapids, Mich.
The Eagles were ranked as high as No. 11 earlier this season and won 12 of their first 14 games. One more win for the Eagles this season will get them to their highest total since 2004 when they won a program record 19 games.
Ashland lost in the GLIAC Tournament semifinal to Saginaw Valley, 2-0, on Friday night.
The other teams in the Midwest Region include No. 2 seed Walsh, No. 3 seed Findlay, No. 6 seed Rockhurst and No. 7 seed Indianapolis. That side of the regional will be played at Findlay.
The Eagles had six players named to the All-GLIAC squads, including junior goalkeeper Hannah Lee (first team), redshirt-senior center back Sydney Wright (first team), junior midfielder Emily Mark (first team), sophomore center back Tori Baker (second team), redshirt-senior forward Deijah Swihart (second team) and sophomore midfielder Brianna Fourman (honorable mention).
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