Congratulations to the ladies.
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Marquette, UWM women gain NCAA bids
The Marquette University and UW-Milwaukee women's soccer teams are heading to the NCAA tournament.
Marquette (11-6-4) will serve as a host school during the first two rounds of the 64-team tourney, and the Golden Eagles will play Purdue (14-5-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Valley Fields. In the other first-round game at Valley Fields on Friday, third-seeded Florida (13-5-4) will play Horizon League tournament champion Loyola (14-6-3).
The second-round match is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
UWM (16-3-1) received the first at large-berth in the history of the women's program, and also the first at-large bid for a Horizon League women's squad. The Panthers will play Michigan (9-7-5) on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.
If UWM wins its opening match, it likely would face a tough challenge against top-seeded Notre Dame (20-0-1). The Fighting Irish will play Oakland (8-10-1) in the opening round.
"Trying to advance out of a bracket with Notre Dame is a pretty tall order," said UWM coach Mike Moynihan. "This says our program has grown a lot and our conference has gotten a lot tougher."
UWM lost in the semifinals of the Horizon League tourney to Detroit, but it still grabbed an at-large bid. Its only other losses were to defending national champion Portland and Indiana.
Marquette reeled off a six-game winning streak late in the season before losing to Notre Dame, 2-0, in a Big East tournament semifinal last weekend.
