The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 7 Soccer faces BYU in first round of 2007 NCAA Championship
11.12.2007 | Soccer
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 7 Texas Longhorns will face Brigham Young in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.
Head coach Chris Petrucelli's squad, 14-3-5 to date, will travel to College Station, Texas for the four-team first/second round play. First round action from College Station takes place on Thursday, Nov. 15, with the first-round winners advancing to Saturday's second round action.
In Thursday's first round action, Texas squares off against BYU (17-3-2), winners of the Mountain West Conference championship, while host Texas A&M (17-3-2), a No. 2 seed in the 64-team NCAA field, faces Stephen F. Austin (13-4-2), the Southland Conference champions.
The times for the first/second round games and ticket information for the College Station competition will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
The Longhorns, winners of the 2007 Big 12 tournament on Sunday, Nov. 11, received the league's automatic bid to the NCAAs by virtue of its 2-1 upset win over then-No. 2 Texas A&M in San Antonio in the Sunday finals.
UT and BYU are tied, 1-1-0, in all-time series action. In their last meeting, the Cougars beat Texas 1-0 on Sept. 12, 2005 in Provo, Utah. This will be the Cougars' 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 11 years. BYU is also the only team from the Mountain West Conference to receive a bid in the tournament.
Free live video and free live statistics will be available for this weekend's matches on AggieAthletics.com.
Texas earned its second consecutive automatic berth by winning the 2007 Big 12 Soccer Championship. The second-seeded Longhorns defeated top seed, Texas A&M, 2-1 on Sunday, Nov. 11 for the team championship.
Texas makes its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament. UT is 3-6-2 since its first tournament match on Nov. 16, 2001 (a 2-1 loss to SMU in College Station). The Longhorns have advanced twice to the third round of the NCAA Tournament (2004 and 2006).
In 2006, the Longhorns were selected one of four No. 1 national seeds. UT played the first two rounds in Connecticut before returning home to Austin for the third round match. Texas advanced 4-1 over Long Island and 3-1 on penalty kicks against Connecticut after a 1-1, draw in regulation. UT's season ended with a 2-0 loss to Portland.
Other Big 12 teams to make the field are Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma State.
The 2007 NCAA College Cup will be held in at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station from December 7-9.