College Roundup: Tournament action climaxes

By Charles Boehm

The college soccer postseason is entering “crunch time” over the next 10 days in NAIA and all three NCAA divisions, with a quartet of NCAA Division I women’s quarterfinal matches on Friday, Division I men’s third round games on Sunday and a host of semifinals in the smaller divisions next week.

Eight contenders remain on the NCAA D1 women’s side, where the No. 1 seeds in all four brackets have progressed. Big 10 powerhouse Penn State will host Duke at 7 p.m. ET on Friday at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pa. Kicking off at the same time further south, Florida State, this year’s ACC heavyweight, welcomes unseeded Notre Dame to Tallahassee.

Out west, No. 1-seeded Stanford will clash with California rivals UCLA at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium (kickoff at 10 p.m. ET) and Anson Dorrance’s North Carolina Tarheels visit Brigham Young’s South Stadium home in Provo, Utah at 8 p.m. ET. Friday’s winners will gather in San Diego, Calif. for the semifinal and national championship matches on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.

[ +View the full Division I women’s bracket and other information at the NCAA website ]

Plenty of soccer remains to be played in the men’s D1 tourney, though last weekend’s wave of upsets have pushed five unseeded teams into the third round alongside impressive runs by the No. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 seeds. Notre Dame, Maryland, Georgetown, Connecticut, Akron, North Carolina, Tulsa and Louisville will host Friday’s matches, with kickoff times ranging from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.

[ +View the full Division I men’s bracket and other information at the NCAA website ]

A range of online viewing options is available for the aforementioned games, with both the men’s and women’s College Cup finals set to be broadcast on ESPNU.