Men's Soccer 11/12/2024 3:33:47 PM

Four from CC Qualify for NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament

Hopkins, Muhlenberg, F&M and Dickinson continue on into NCAAs

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A quartet of Centennial men's soccer teams have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament, marking the fourth time in CC history that four or more teams will represent the conference in the national tournament.

Johns Hopkins earned the CC's automatic bid with a 5-3 win in penalty kicks over Muhlenberg in Sunday's championship. The runner-up Mules, Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson eached secured at-large bids into the field of 64. The Centennial sent a record five teams to the NCAA postseason in 2021 and has previously qualified four teams in 2019 and 2007. The CC has earned at least three bids 12 different times in the 32-year history of the conference, and has now secured at least three spots in NCAA's eight out of the last nine seasons.

Forty-three conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the championship. The other 21 berths were reserved for an at-large berth, which includes institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship.

The tournament consists of a 64-team field, with 43 slots dedicated to automatic qualifiers and the remaining 21 berths to at-large teams chosen via the NCAA Power Index (NPI). All tournament games leading up to the national semifinals will be played on the campuses of the competing institutions. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the national semifinals, which take place Dec. 5 at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as hosts. The national championship game will be played Dec. 7.

Johns Hopkins (12-3-4) will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend at Homewood Field. JHU will take on Penn State Behrend (10-6-4) on Saturday with Washington & Lee (13-3-4) and Otterbein (12-6-3) squaring off in the other game. The Blue Jays are making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth consecutive.

Muhlenberg (12-3-6) will compete at NCAAs for the second time in the last three years and 16th time overall. The Mules will travel to Amherst College and will face Stevens (11-3-4) in the opening round on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The other first-round matchup at the site pairs host Amherst (11-2-3) against Neumann (10-6-4), with the winners squaring off Sunday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. Muhlenberg has advanced past the first round in each of its last three NCAA appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2014 and the second round in its last appearance in 2022.

Franklin & Marshall (9-2-7) is making its 11th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Diplomats will travel to the campus of Connecticut College in New London, Conn. to face Western Connecticut State (15-4-3) in Saturday's opening round at 1:30 p.m. Host Connecticut College (10-2-6) will meet Suffolk (10-6-5) in the other opening round tilt, with the winners set to meet Sunday at 1 p.m.

Dickinson (14-3-3) is makings its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 and will travel to Lynchburg, Va. for a regional hosted by Lynchburg. The Red Devils are set to face St. Mary's (Md.) (11-6-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m., with the host Hornets (12-3-4) taking on Emory (8-6-2) in the other matchup. The two winners will meet on Sunday at 3 p.m. for a spot in the Sweet 16.