Indianapolis - The women's soccer teams at Mercy, Molloy, and Daemen have earned the right to compete for a National Championship. All three East Coast Conference schools were among the 56 teams in the NCAA Division II Championship bracket unveiled on Monday evening.
Mercy (13-3-2) is making their third straight NCAA Championship appearance and fifth overall. The Mavericks are the highest seeded of the three ECC schools coming in at No. 2 in the East Region bracket. As the No. 2 seed, Mercy will host the First and Second Rounds at Mavericks Field on their Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. campus.
Mercy's first round opponent will be No. 7 Southern New Hampshire (10-6-1) of the NE10. The Penmen are also making their third straight appearance in the NCAA Championship.
Molloy (14-4-2) will be making their first-ever NCAA Championship after earning the league's automatic berth after claiming the ECC Championship. The Lions were awarded the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 Bentley (10-7-2), also a member of the NE10. Like Molloy, Bentley is also making their first-ever NCAA Championship appearance.
The Molloy vs. Bentley matchup will also take place at Mercy with the winner advancing to take on the winner of Mercy vs. SNHU.
Daemen (11-3-3) earned the final at-large berth in the region as the No. 8 seed. In a rare occurrence, the Wildcats make the NCAA Championship without appearing in the ECC Championship. It is not unprecedented in conference history, however, as St. Thomas Aquinas' men's soccer team pulled off the same feat in 2011.
The Wildcats, who are also making their NCAA Championship debut, have a date with No. 1 seed and NE10 Champion, Saint Rose (17-2-1). The Golden Knights have been one of the top programs in the country with 15 tournament appearances over the past 18 seasons. In that span, they've also had six Final Four appearances and one National Championship.
The winner of Daemen vs. Saint Rose will advance to take on either No. 4 Stonehill (11-4-4) or No. 5 Jefferson (15-5-0).
All three matches featuring ECC members are rematches from earlier this season. SNHU beat Mercy, 4-2, during the season's opening weekend. Molloy and Bentley played to a 0-0 tie in another early-season contest. Daemen fell to Saint Rose, 3-1, in an October matchup in Albany.
First round action starts on Friday, November 22. Second round action kicks off on Sunday, November 24.
To view the full NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship bracket, click here.
