BYU and Utah To Represent MWC In 2002 NCAA Women's Soccer Cup

Cougars and Utes one of two intra-conference first round matchups.

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Nov. 11, 2002

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU and Utah will represent the Mountain West Conference in the 2002 NCAA Women's College Cup. The 16th-ranked Cougars and Utes will face each other in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. on South Field in Provo, Utah, marking the first time since 1998 that two teams from the same conference play each other in the opening round. The winner of the match will face the winner of No. 9 Portland/Idaho State match on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Cougars received the MWC's automatic bid after defeating New Mexico in the conference championship last week in Provo, while Utah received an at-large berth.

BYU (16-5, 6-0 MWC) will be making its sixth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 5-5 all-time record in postseason play. BYU has made it to the "Sweet 16" twice, with its last appearance coming in 2000 when it fell to Santa Clara, 2-1, in overtime. This is the third time in four years the Cougars have hosted a first round match. Utah (12-3-3, 4-1-1 MWC) will be making its first-ever appearance in the College Cup.

The 64-team NCAA Tournament begins with first and second round matches being played Thursday and Friday, Nov. 14-15 and Nov. 16-17, at campus sites. Third-round matches will be played on campus sites November 22, 23 or 24, as will quarterfinal matches on November 29, 30 or December 1. The 21st annual NCAA Division I Women's College Cup will be played December 6 and 8 at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas.

The No. 1 seed in the 2002 Women's College Cup is Stanford University. The ACC, Big 10, Pac-10 and West Coast Conference had six teams selected to the tournament, while the Big East, Colonial Athletic Association, Conference USA and SEC will have four teams each representing its conference.

Twenty-nine conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2002 championship. The remaining 35 teams were selected at-large.

You can find the NCAA Women's College Cup bracket on-line at www.ncaachampionships.com.