With a combined record of 28-4, the Seattle University men’s and women’s soccer teams find themselves in position to, if they keep winning, host first and second round contests in their respective NCAA tournaments, as the latest regional rankings for both sports were released Wednesday by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees.
The men’s soccer team (13-2) finds itself at the top of the Far West Region rankings this week, followed by (14-2-1), Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-2), Montana State Billings (9-2-1), Grand Canyon (9-4-3), and (9-5-1). As long as certain NCAA requirements are met, the top seed would host the regional, with first round matches taking place either Thursday, Nov. 8 or Friday, Nov. 9, and the regional final coming on Saturday, Nov. 10 or Sunday, Nov. 11.
On the women’s side, after spending the first two weeks in the third slot, the SU women’s team moved up to the second position this week, based on a five-match winning streak for the Redhawks and UC San Diego, who was in the #2 spot, losing two of its last four matches. Seattle Pacific (17-0) leads the Far West Region rankings, followed by Seattle (15-2), UC San Diego (12-2-1), Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-3-2), Chico State (11-5-1), Western Washington (9-6-1), Cal State Los Angeles (7-5-1), Hawaii Hilo (8-4), BYU-Hawaii (8-3-1), and Cal Poly Pomona (7-6).
The women’s tournament has expanded this year, with six teams qualifying in each region. For the first and second rounds, there will be two host sites per region. The #1 seed would host the first-round game between #4 and #5 on Friday, Nov. 9, and then face the winner of that game on Sunday, Nov. 11. At the same time, the first round contest between the third and sixth seeds would take place at the home of the #2 seed, with the winner facing the second seed in the second round.
With three matches remaining each, both teams still have business to take care of in the regular season, beginning Wednesday night as the women’s soccer team heads to Interbay Stadium to face Seattle Pacific starting at 7 p.m. The men’s soccer squad returns to action Thursday afternoon, hosting at Championship Field beginning at 2:30 p.m.