Carson-Newman, Tusculum, Newberry Advance To NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three South Atlantic Conference women's soccer teams received bids to the 2009 Division II National Tournament.

The 11th-ranked Carson-Newman women's soccer team are the No. 1 seed, received a first-round bye and will host one half of the Southeast Region bracket.

The tournament appearance is the seventh-straight for C-N, which is a South Atlantic Conference record.

The Lady Eagles (18-2-1), will play the winner of the matchup between Newberry (13-4-2) and Tusculum (14-4-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at McCown Field. Newberry and Tusculum will meet on Friday at 7 p.m. at McCown Field in Jefferson City.

The Lady Eagles defeated both Tusculum and Newberry during the regular season.

With a win on Sunday, C-N would advance to the Southeast Regional final, which will be played on Nov. 20.

C-N enters the tournament on a roll after winning both the SAC regular season and SAC Tournament titles for the second year in a row. The Lady Eagles are on a six-match winning streak, which includes a 3-1 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC title match. C-N also went on a school-record 11-match winning streak to open the season.

On the other side of the Southeast Region bracket is No. 2 seed Columbus State (15-2-3). The Lady Cougars will host the winner of Armstrong Atlantic/Belmont Abbey on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Lady Eagles are 8-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. C-N defeated UNC-Pembroke in the second round last season to advance to the Southeast Region finals, where they lost to top-seeded Columbus State, 1-0. C-N advanced to the national semifinals in both 2004 and 2005.

The Tusculum College women's soccer team is returning to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship for the first time since 2007.

Tusculum earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Southeast Region Tournament, and will square off against fellow South Atlantic Conference member Newberry College on Friday, November 13 in Jefferson City, Tenn. at 7 p.m.

The Pioneers are making the program's fifth appearance in the NCAA National Tournament, including four trips to the big dance in a five year span from 2003-2007. Tusculum posted a 14-3-3 record against Division II opponents and was ranked third in last week's NCAA Southeast Region rankings before advancing to the semifinal round of the Food Lion SAC Tournament last weekend.

Tusculum edged Newberry 1-0 in the teams' regular season matchup en route to a second-place finish in the SAC with a 6-2 in-conference record. The winner of Tusculum's match against Newberry will face Carson-Newman, the host school and top seed in the Southeast Regional, on Sunday, November 15 at 1 p.m.

The Newberry College women's soccer team will make its first trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament in the program's history.

Friday, November 13, 2009 (Carson-Newman College - Jefferson City, Tenn.)
No. 5 Tusculum vs. No. 4 Newberry, 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 (Carson-Newman College - Jefferson City, Tenn.)
Tusculum/Newberry vs. No. 1 Carson-Newman, 1 p.m.