NCAA First Round: Seahawks to face Profs

Portions of this release courtesy of the NCAA

NCAA RELEASE | INTERACTIVE BRACKET

INDIANAPOLIS – Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Soccer Tournament Champion Salve Regina University will match up against Rowan in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship. The match will take place on Saturday, Nov. 16, at University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., as part of a four-team regional. Seahawks and Profs start at approximately 1:30 p.m., after the host school, No. 15 Mary Washington, entertains Keystone (11 a.m.).

Salve Regina was part of the 64-team field that was announced Monday afternoon during the NCAA.com Selection Show.

The Seahawks (14-4-3) were one of 42 teams to win their league's automatic qualifier into this year's national tournament. The top seed in the CCC Championship Tournament locked up the AQ on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the CCC Championship match defeating Endicott, 3-2, in double overtime.

Rowan (11-5-3, 5-3-1 NJAC) was one of the 21 "Pool C" at-large bids into this year's bracket. The Profs needed to earn the at-large bid after falling to Montclair State in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship.

Mary Washington (13-3-4, 7-2-1 CAC) was also an AQ winner taking the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Championship in penalty kicks. The Eagles will host Keystone (13-4-1, 6-1-0 CSAC), winners of the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) in other First Round game.

Salve Regina head coach Craig O'Rourke II on making his second trip to the NCAAs: "It's always exciting to see your school's name come up during a tournament field announcement on an NCAA selection show. For us, our bid was locked so we weren't hoping for an at-large bid like some of the other schools and didn't have to deal with that degree of anticipation and the tidal wave of relief to know that we were selected. I was shocked to see that we were sent out of region and even more so at how far they sent us with our first round game being in Virginia."

Salve Regina had advanced to its previous NCAA Championships in 2012 under Coach O'Rourke to face Montclair State in a four-team pod hosted by SUNY Oneonta.

Mary Washington is one of 16 First and Second Round sites. The Second Round winners will advance to one of four section sites, which will host matches on either Nov. 22 and 23 or Nov. 23 and 24. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the national semifinals, which take place Dec. 6 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C., with UNC Greensboro and Greensboro Sports Commission serving as hosts. The national championship game will be played Dec. 7. 

2019 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship

First Round – Saturday Nov. 16
(Hosted by Mary Washington – Fredericksburg, Va.)

Keystone at No. 15 Mary Washington, 11 a.m.
Salve Regina vs. Rowan, 1:30 p.m.