Gamecocks Make 8th-Straight NCAA Tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Coming off a challenging split season No. 16 South Carolina women’s soccer (10-4-0, 6-2-0 SEC) earned its eighth-straight NCAA Tournament bid when the 48-team field was announced Monday afternoon. The Gamecocks, who are unseeded, will join the rest of the field in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary area for the entire tournament with Carolina’s opening round against Montana set for April 28 at 6 p.m. Any broadcast schedule has yet to be determined.
The Division I Women’s Soccer committee intends to provide some opportunity for family and friends to attend the championships. They will follow the NCAA Medical Advisory Group guidelines, and the maximum allowable capacity will be 25 percent at the varying locations in North Carolina.
This season will mark the 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Gamecocks, who have reached the event in 13 of the last 14 years. The eighth-straight bid is the longest streak in program history. Carolina has advanced out of the first round nine times in total, including each of the past four years.
Montana captured the Big Sky Conference Championship after COVID caused their opponents to bow out of the conference tournament. This is the first time the Gamecocks will face the Grizzlies with Montana coming in with a 9-1-0 (7-1-0 Big Sky) record. The NCAA Tournament appearance is the fifth for the Grizzlies, and second under third-year coach Chris Citowicki. Montana has won one NCAA Tournament match in its history back in 2000, defeating Washington State 1-0.
The winner of the first round match will face Georgetown (11-0-1, 7-0-1 Big East) on May 1 at 6 p.m. The Hoyas earned the No. 13 seed as the Big East automatic qualifier. The other half of the Gamecocks section of the bracket features No. 4 seed TCU who will wait for the winner of New Mexico and Navy.
The Gamecocks are one of five SEC schools to qualify for the 2021 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. Arkansas earned a No. 6 seed, Texas A&M is the No. 7 seed while Vanderbilt is the No. 16 seed with Ole Miss rounding out SECs programs in this year’s field.
The complete 48-team bracket can be found on NCAA.com. For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars.
Keep up with Carolina women’s soccer on Twitter and Instagram (@GamecockWSoccer) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2021 season.
