STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford received the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament when the bracket was announced on Monday morning. It's the Cardinal's eighth straight appearance in the postseason and 19th overall after earning the Pac-12 Conference's automatic bid into postseason play.
The condensed, 36-team field has eight seeded squads, of which the Cardinal is one. 28 teams, including Stanford, will begin play in the second round, while another eight will face off in the first round. The Cardinal will play the winner of UNC Greensboro and Omaha on Sunday, May 2 at a time to be determined in Greensboro, N.C. This season's entire tournament will take place in Cary, N.C. and the surrounding area.
"Our team is really excited to be playing in the NCAA Tournament, especially under the circumstances we've gone through," commented The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "There have certainly been moments this past year where we weren't quite sure how many games, if any, we'd be able to play this season, so to now have the opportunity to play together in the postseason is not something we take for granted."
The Cardinal is 29-14-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, advancing in penalty kicks in eight of those nine draws. Currently ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, Stanford won its sixth Pac-12 championship in the last seven years over the weekend, defeating No. 6 Washington 1-0 in overtime. Its current stretch of eight consecutive postseason berths is the longest in program history.
Stanford has won three of the last five NCAA titles, advancing to the College Cup in four of the last five tournaments, and has posted an overall record of 100-19-24 (.783) since 2014. The Cardinal is one of just two programs to win three straight NCAA titles (2015-17). Virginia won four in a row from 1991-94. It is also one of seven to win at least three national championships along with Saint Louis (10), Indiana (8), Virginia (7), San Francisco (4), UCLA (4) and Maryland (4).
"Of course, we're only guaranteed one game, but we want to play as many as possible. What's made this season so enjoyable is that this team loves training, playing and being together. Our goal for this tournament is to do as much of those things as possible," said Gunn.
