Cal Draws Auburn in First Round of NCAA Tournament

The selection is Cal's 17th playoff bid, the 11th in the last 12 years and the sixth straight.

Nov. 9, 2009

BERKELEY - The California women's soccer team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee announced Monday evening. The Golden Bears (10-8-1 overall, 4-5-0 in the Pac-10) will take on Auburn (10-8-3) in the first round of the tournament on November 13 in Tallahassee, Fla. The selection is Cal's 17th playoff bid, the 11th in the last 12 years and the sixth straight.

"It's great for the team," Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. "I think the players are well deserving of this - they played well all season. Some results haven't gone as planned, but over the course of the season, Cal earned this bid."

The Bears finished out the regular season with a 10-8-1 overall record and closed their conference campaign at 4-5-0 to finish tied for sixth in the competitive conference.

While this will only be the second meeting between the Bears and the Tigers in program history, the last time the two teams played each other was also in the NCAA Tournament and also in Tallahassee, Fla. Cal defeated Auburn, 3-1, to advance to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Cal is no stranger to postseason play in the state of Florida and the city of Tallahassee - the Bears have played in Florida in four of the past five NCAA Tournaments. Last year, the Bears lost to No. 7-seeded Florida in Gainesville. Cal traveled to Tallahassee for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2006 as well as for the third round in 2005.

The Tigers earned an at-large bid and bring a 10-8-3 overall record into the tournament. Auburn finished its conference schedule at 6-5-0, losing in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to LSU, 1-0. Last season, the Tigers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 6-seeded Florida State, 1-0, in Auburn, Ala.

Rebecca Howell paces the Tigers with eight goals while Katy Frierson has a team-high 10 assists for a squad-leading 20 points. Goalkeeper Amy Howard has allowed an average 1.16 goals in 21 games of work for Auburn. Karen Hoppa coaches the Tigers and takes her squad to her ninth NCAA Tournament in 10 seasons at the helm of the Auburn program.

"I think all of the brackets are hard, but no matter who we play, we're going to have to play well," McGuire said. "There's no question that playing against Auburn will be hard. Auburn is one of the best teams perennially in the SEC."

The winner of the Cal-Auburn game will face the winner of the No. 1-seeded Florida State (16-4-1, 7-2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) vs. Southeastern Louisiana (13-4-2, 6-1-1 Southland Conference) first-round match on Nov. 15 in Tallahassee. The Seminoles will take on the Lady Lions on Nov. 13 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Pac-10 earned eight bids to the 2009 NCAA Tournament - Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State. The Pac-10 and Atlantic Coast lead all conferences with eight teams in the tournament.

"In all my years coaching college, I think this year's Pac-10 is the strongest conference that I've ever been a part of," McGuire said. "Every team is talented, and every team is very deep. It was a very, very difficult conference season."

Junior forward Alex Morgan leads Cal with 13 goals while redshirt junior forward Lisa Keovkrian is second with seven scores and a team-high four gamewinners. Morgan is also tops on the team with seven assists. Senior goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini has spent the majority of time in goal for the Bears and owns a 1.58 goals-against average.

This marks McGuire's third trip the NCAA Tournament in as many years at Cal as well as in his nine seasons as a collegiate coach. Prior to coming to Cal, McGuire directed successful rebuilding efforts at Mississippi State and Texas Tech. He was named the 2001 SEC Coach of the Year. Last season, Cal received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the program's 10th trip to the Big Dance in the past 11 years. The Bears traveled to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the No. 7 Gators. Even though they put up a very strong showing, outshooting Florida, 14-8, the Bears lost, 2-1. Freshman Natasha Richardson scored her first goal of the season and her Bear career for California's lone goal.

The Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The Bears defeated Santa Clara, 2-0, in the first round. Cal tied Stanford, 1-1, in the second round, but the Cardinal advanced to the third round by winning the penalty kick shootout, 7-6. In 2005, Cal advanced to the third round of NCAAs for the first time since 1988. The Bears' best NCAA Tournament performances were semifinal appearances in 1984, '87 and '88.

The Women's College Cup concludes Dec. 4 and 6 in College Station, Texas.