NCAA Bracket
Championship Central
MARYVILLE – Nothing was guaranteed, so the moment the Maryville Scots found out they were headed to the NCAA tournament was a jump for joy inside the Cooper Athletic Center.
Maryville earned an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship on Monday afternoon, drawing a first-round match against Washington (Mo.) in St. Louis.
The Scots won the Collegiate Conference of the South championship, but no NCAA automatic bid comes with that trophy until the 2024-25 academic season. That meant the Scots had to sweat it out for the last 48 hours since defeating Covenant 2-1 in overtime for the CCS crown Saturday afternoon.
"We weren't completely sure," said defender
Alex Smith, who backed up her All-CCS First Team credentials with a place on the CCS All-Tournament Team. "We knew we had a good season and a good strength of schedule, but without getting an automatic bid for the new conference, we were pretty nervous.
"But we're super excited. I'm sure our reactions on the video are pure joy and excitement. Especially since we weren't named until the second-to-last bracket."
Saturday Doubleheader
Maryville and WashU are the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, starting at 5:30 p.m. Central time. Hanover takes on Sewanee in the second match, with the winners meeting Sunday night at 7 o'clock Central.
Maryville is back in the NCAA tournament for the 11th time in program history and the first since 2019. The Scots dropped that opening round match 4-0 to these same Bears. WashU was ranked third nationally that year; this season, the Bears stand No. 2 in the latest polls at 14-1-2.
"We were pretty confident, but I've been through this so many times," Maryville head coach
Pepe Fernandez said. "The first time we had a chance, we were a top 25 team and they took only 20 teams. We watched three teams selectted that we had beaten, and we didn't get in. Then the first time we got in (2001), I wasn't even watching the show and they called me in the middle of the night to tell me we were in!
"You never know how it's going to go. I'm so happy for this team; they are so deserving and I'm excited to see them play again."
The Scots improved to 15-3-3 with their victory Saturday.
Cash Only!
Admission to the matches at Francis Olympic Field is CASH ONLY, and the prices are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors, students and children under 17. Children under 2 are free. For more information, check the
Championship Central Page.
Maryville is expected to depart Thursday morning after a few more days of classes and practice.
"We get a rest day today to get our legs back under us after that double-overtime win, and then we will hit the field, back at it," Smith said. "We are happy to be training hard and enjoying another week of play."
