Women’s Soccer Faces #12 Middlebury in NCAA Tournament
The Owls will have a second team visiting Middlebury for national tournament play with women's soccer set for a first round game on Saturday at 11:00 A.M.
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State University women's soccer will face #12 Middlebury College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament from Middlebury, Vt. on Saturday at 11:00 A.M.
The Owls (9-5-6) are making their 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament and fourth in the last five seasons under Owls head coach Todd Ditmar. Westfield received the automatic qualifying bid from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference after defeating Worcester State 1-0 in the title game.
The Panthers (11-3-3) enter the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid after falling to tenth ranked Williams College 2-1 in a NESCAC semifinal match. Middlebury is ranked 12th in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll.
Westfield's last trip to the NCAA Tournament came in 2023 against fifth-ranked Messiah, falling 5-1 in a first round matchup. The Owls have reached the second round of the tournament on two separate occasions, most recently in 2022 after defeating Emerson College 2-1 in double overtime in a first round game. In 2011, Westfield took down Stevens via penalty kicks to advance into the second round.
Middlebury returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 and were the national runner-up during the 2018 season. The Panthers made it to the second round in their last appearance, defeating Lynchburg 3-2 before dropping a 3-0 decision to fourth-ranked Misericordia. In the 2018 tournament run, the Panthers won five games en route to a National Championship appearance, dropping a 2-1 result to Williams.
#15 Rochester (N.Y.) and Hartford will also be travelling to Middlebury for a first round match at 1:30 P.M. with the winners of both games meeting in the second round on Sunday.
The 64-team tournament field consists of 43 automatic qualifying bids for conference champions with the remaining 21 spots receiving at-large bids based on NPI projections.
Middlebury will be one of 16 four-team sites in the country that will conduct first and second round games this weekend: Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional pods on November 21 and 22 or 22 and 23. The four sectional winners will travel to Salem, Virginia – The site of the NCAA Division III Final Four and National Championship on December 4-6.
For Westfield State, this is the second team that has been sent to Middlebury for national tournament play as Owls field hockey will also face the Panthers in a first round game on Wednesday as announced through the NCAA field hockey selection show last night.
Additional details will be released on WestfieldStateOwls.com when they become available.