Sixth-Seeded Concordia to Host William Jessup
PDF Bracket
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round bracket and matchups for the 26th annual event. The National Championship Opening Round takes place on Saturday, Nov. 21 and is hosted by 16 different schools. The winners of the National Championship Opening Round games will advance to the National Championship final site from Nov. 30 - Dec. 5 in Decatur, Ala.
Concordia University-Portland, which won the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament and the league's automatic bid to nationals, is the No. 6 seed and will host William Jessup (Rocklin, Calif.) Saturday at 4 p.m. at Delta Park in Portland.
The No. 1 seed Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (17-2-2) are making their ninth consecutive appearance in the National Championship and will host Missouri Baptist (12-7-1) in Columbia, Ky. Missouri Baptist is making its first appearance in the tournament.
The No. 2 seed Lee (Tenn.) Lady Flames (16-2-1) play host to Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) (11-5-2), the American Mideast Conference Tournament Champion, who is making its first tournament appearance. Last year's champion, Lee, has made six straight National Championship appearances.
No. 3 California Baptist (15-4-1) is making its third appearance in the National Championship and will host Grand View (Iowa) (10-9-2), the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Champion.
No. 4 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (14-3-1) will entertain Maine-Fort Kent (17-0) in Azusa, Calif. The Cougars are the Golden State Athletic Conference regular season champions. Maine-Fort Kent comes into the tournament as one of only two unbeaten teams in the country, along with Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (17-0-4).
All three top-seeds were ranked at No. 1 at some point in the season. Simon Fraser (B.C.) and Houghton (N.Y.) are making their 11th trips to the National Championship; respectively there are nine schools that have qualified for the first time in program history.
Five of the teams in the field hold at least one National Championship title with no team owning more then two. The last five National Championships have been won by teams in this year's tournament, Lee in 2008, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) in 2005 and 2007 and Lindsey Wilson in 2004 and 2006.
JumpTV Inc. is the exclusive provider of live video and audio-streaming at the NAIA National Championship. JumpTV will stream the 2009 NAIA Men's and Women's Soccer and Volleyball National Championships. These events can be viewed by going to www.watchnaia.com.
2009 NAIA Women's Soccer Opening-Round Pairings
Game 1 #1 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) hosts Missouri Baptist
Game 2 Texas at Brownsville hosts #16 Southern Nazarene (Okla.)
Game 3 #9 Simon Fraser (B.C.) hosts Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)^
Game 4 #8 Vanguard (Calif.) hosts California State-San Marcos
Game 5 #5 William Carey (Miss.) hosts Union (Ky.)
Game 6 #12 Graceland (Iowa) hosts Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
Game 7 #13 Indiana Wesleyan hosts Houghton (N.Y.)
Game 8 #4 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) hosts Maine-Fort Kent
Game 9 #3 California Baptist hosts Grand View (Iowa)
Game 10 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) hosts #14 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.)
Game 11 #11McKendree (Ill.) hosts Midland Lutheran (Neb.)
Game 12 #6 Concordia (Ore.) hosts William Jessup (Calif.)
Game 13 #7 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) hosts Asbury (Ky.)
Game 14 #10 Northwood (Fla.) hosts Siena Heights (Mich.)
Game 15 Ottawa (Kan.) hosts #15 Trinity Christian (Ill.)
Game 16 #2 Lee (Tenn.) hosts Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)