Tartans Selected to NCAA Championships Field for Eighth Time
(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) - The 15th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team received an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship after finishing fourth in the University Athletic Association. The appearance in the NCAA tournament marks the eighth in nine years for the program which finished the regular season with an 11-5-1 overall mark.
The Tartans, who won two games against ranked opponents this year after playing six nationally ranked teams, will travel to McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, for the first round of the tournament. Carnegie Mellon will open the tournament against Trine University on Saturday, November 13 at 1:30 p.m.
The Tartans had one of the toughest schedules in the nation as they faced nine teams that made the tournament. Their five losses came against teams selected to the tournament, all of whom are ranked nationally, like the Tartans, in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division III Poll. And all of the losses for the Tartans are by one goal, as the team has surrendered just seven goals all seasons, with only one opponent scoring more than once.
Trine (15-4-2), the Tartans first-round opponent, is in the tournament for the first time in program history after finishing second in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) tournament.
McDaniel (17-1-1) is ranked seventh nationally and are winners of the Centennial Conference tournament via a penalty kick shootout against Franklin & Marshall College. The Green Terror, who played in the national tournament in 2015, 2016, and 2017, were selected to play Penn State Harrisburg (12-4-4) who won the United East Championship and will also be in the tournament for the first time.
Should the Tartans advance, they would play the winner of McDaniel and Penn State Harrisburg on Sunday, November 14 at 1:00 p.m.
The Tartans have had success in the national tournament, most recently in 2019 when the team played in the national semifinal for the first time in program history. In seven years in the tournament, the Tartans have a 12-4-4 record with 12 shutouts and have advanced past the first round five times, past the second round five times, and played in the quarterfinals twice (2012 and 2019).