Nov. 7, 2011

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -

New Mexico will represent the Mountain West in the 2011 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The Lobos earned the Conference’s automatic bid to the tournament after defeating Wyoming, 2-0, in the MW Women’s Soccer Championship Final, Nov. 6, in Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico (12-4-4) is making its second all-time appearance in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. The Lobos will face second-seeded UCLA (15-1-3) in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. PT. The winner of the New Mexico/UCLA contest will play either San Diego (12-7) or UC Irvine (14-4-2) on Friday, Nov. 18. The Bruins own a 2-0 series advantage over the Lobos. UCLA secured a 3-0 home victory over New Mexico in 2008 and earned a 2-1 overtime win in Albuquerque in 1994.

The Lobos made their first-ever NCAA Championship appearance in 2010, falling to fourth-seeded Notre Dame, 3-0, in the opening round of the postseason tournament. With New Mexico in the 2011 field, the Mountain West now has 26 appearances all-time in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. Overall, the Conference holds a 13-21-5 record in the tournament.

The four No. 1 seeds in the 2011 NCAA Championship are Duke, Florida State, Stanford and Wake Forest. Thirty conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2011 championship. The remaining 34 teams were selected at-large.

First-round matches will be played at campus sites Nov. 11, 12 or 13. Second-round matches will be played Friday, Nov. 18, at campus sites, and third-round matches will be played Sunday, Nov. 20, at the same campus locations. Quarterfinal matches will be played Nov. 25, 26 or 27 also on campus sites.

The 30th annual NCAA Women’s College Cup will be played Dec. 2 and 4 at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga., with Kennesaw State serving as host. The first national semifinal will be played at 3 p.m. MT and shown live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com, while the second semifinal will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m. MT and be shown live on ESPN3.com and tape-delayed for Sunday, Dec. 4, at 9 a.m. MT. The national championship match will occur on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 11 a.m. MT and will air live on ESPNU/ESPN3.com.

For more information or the complete NCAA Women's Soccer Championship bracket, please log on to www.ncaa.com.