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Utah and UNLV to Represent MWC in 2004 NCAA Soccer Tournament
2004 marks Utes' third straight, Rebels' first-ever NCAA appearance
Nov. 8, 2004 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Utah and UNLV will represent the Mountain West Conference in the 2004 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. Utah earned the conference's automatic bid to the tournament after defeating San Diego State in a shootout in the MWC Soccer Championship, Nov. 6, in Provo, Utah, while UNLV earned an at-large bid from the NCAA committee after winning the MWC regular-season title with a 5-1-0 record. This will be the Rebels' first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Utah, with a 13-5-3 record, will open the tournament in Portland, Ore., with No. 6-ranked Portland, No. 24 Colorado and Weber State. The Utes will take on Colorado in first-round action, Friday, Nov. 12, in Portland, Ore. Portland, the tournament's No. 5 seed, and Weber State face each other in the other opening round game. UNLV, currently ranked No. 8 in the West Region in the NSCAA/adidas rankings, will face San Diego in its first-round game, Friday, Nov. 12 at UCLA. Pepperdine will play UCLA in the other part of the Los Angeles bracket. The Rebels, with a record of 12-4-2, defeated the Toreros in Las Vegas, 2-1, Sept. 24. Utah is making its third straight appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship (2002, 2003, 2004). The Utes advanced to the second round in 2002, before falling in the opening round last year to Idaho State in a shootout following a 0-0 tie. With Utah and UNLV in the 2004 field, the Mountain West Conference now has 13 appearances all-time in the NCAA Soccer Championship. Overall, the conference holds a 9-10-2 record in the tournament. BYU, which saw its string of seven straight appearances end this year, advanced to the "Elite Eight" in 2003, the best-ever showing by a Mountain West program. All first and second round matches in the 64-team tournament will take place at campus sites on Friday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 14, except for the four teams at North Carolina, which will play Thursday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 13. Third-round matches will be played on campus sites Nov. 19, 20 or 21, while quarterfinal matches will be Nov. 26, 27 or 28. The 23rd annual NCAA Division I Women's College Cup will be played December 3 and 5 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. North Carolina State, the Capitol Area Soccer League and the town of Cary are hosting the championship. The No. 1 seed in the 2004 NCAA Championship is North Carolina, the defending NCAA champion. In the tournament, 29 teams received automatic bids, while 35 teams received an at-large berth. The ACC received the most selections with eight, while the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac 10 all received five bids apiece. For more information or the complete NCAA Women's Soccer Championship bracket, please log on to www.ncaasports.com.
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