STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team earned a No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament and will host Pepperdine in the NCAA first round on Friday at 6 p.m. from Cagan Stadium. Carrying the No. 2 seed, Stanford is in line to host through the first three rounds.
The Cardinal wrapped up an unbeaten regular season on Friday with a 4-0 shutout over rival California to finish second in the Pac-12 standings. The Cardinal managed a 15-0-4 record, including an 8-0-3 mark in the conference, while going 9-0-1 at Cagan Stadium. Stanford is one of two unbeaten teams remaining this year – joining No. 1 overall seed Florida State (16-0-1).
Pepperdine earned a bid after finishing the regular season 9-4-5 and 6-2 in the West Coast Conference to place second behind Gonzaga. The Waves won six of their final seven matches in the regular season, including posting four shutouts over that span.
The winner of the Stanford-Pepperdine match will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 7 seed South Carolina (11-2-6) vs. James Madison (9-4-8). The remainder of the quadrant includes matches between No. 3 seed Brown (11-2-2) and Quinnipiac (13-3-1), and No. 6 seed Mississippi State (10-5-5) and Providence (10-4-5).
The Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer Paul Ratcliffe enters the postseason with a 54-13-5 record in postseason action while at Stanford, having guided the Cardinal to the NCAA Tournament in 20 of his 21 seasons on The Farm.
This is Stanford's 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament overall, including its 25th in the last 26 seasons. The Cardinal has compiled a 65-23-8 record in NCAA Tournament play, most recently playing to a 1-1 draw with BYU before the Cougars advanced 5-4 in penalty kicks in last year's second round.
Stanford has appeared in 10 College Cups, including five straight from 2008-12, with its three national championships coming in 2011, 2017 and 2019.
Tickets for the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship first round match will go on-sale to the public at tickets.gostanford.com on Wednesday, November 8 at 9 a.m. PT. Fans are encouraged to buy online in advance. Reserved seats are $25 when purchased online and $30 at the box office. General admission tickets purchased online are $20 for adults, and $16 for youth (8th grade and below) and seniors (62+ years old). General admission tickets purchased at the box office will be $25 for adults, and $20 for youth and seniors. Tickets will be delivered via email as mobile tickets. Visit Stanford's mobile ticketing guide for information and step-by-step instructions to help manage your tickets.
Five Pac-12 Women's Soccer programs earned bids to join the 64-team field. This marks the 24th season in Pac-12 history that at least five programs have been selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Pac-12 Champion UCLA, who secured the conference's automatic bid after an unbeaten 10-0-1 league mark, was joined by at-large selections Stanford, USC, Colorado and Arizona State.
