Nov. 8, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 6 Texas A&M soccer team learned Monday that it will play North Dakota State in the first round of Aggies' 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament at 3 p.m. Friday in Minneapolis, Minn.
The No. 4 seed Aggies enter the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship on an at-large bid with a 15-4-2 record after winning the Big 12 regular season title and finishing in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship.
Host school Minnesota faces Creighton at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12. The two winners of Friday's games meet in the second round Sunday.
North Dakota State (12-5-5) was an automatic qualifier after clenching the Summit League title. This is the first NCAA appearance for the Bison.
Creighton (15-3-2) was also an automatic qualifier, winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on the way to its fifth NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota (12-5-3) received an at-large bid to their seventh NCAA Tournament after finishing sixth in their conference. The Gophers are one of six Big Ten teams making an appearance in the first round.
Four teams from the Big 12 made the 64-team bracket including A&M, Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State who earned an automatic bid by winning the Big 12 Tournament this past Sunday.
The NCAA Tournament continues with the third round Nov. 19-21, and quarterfinal play on Nov. 26-28. The College Cup is set for Dec. 3 and 5 in Cary, N.C.
This marks the first meeting between A&M and NDSU. The Aggies have also never faced Minnesota, and have only played Creighton once, in a 2-0 A&M victory in 1995.
"We're actually really excited about getting the opportunity to play people we've never played before," said head coach G Guerrieri. "So many times over the years in the NCAA Tournament it seems like we've played familiar foes. It's clearly going to be a challenge for us to line up against someone that we don't know that much about yet, but it's exciting for us to go to a new environment and to play against teams that are accustomed to winning."
More information on coverage will be announced later this week on AggieAthletics.com.