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NCAA Tournament thread- SOCCER in 2020(1) tourney (all matches in N. Carolina, 1st round vs. So. Alabama, Tuesday, 4/27/21, 5:00 PM MT)

AztecBuff

AztecBuff

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Big congrats to the soccer team for being selected to participated in what is still being called the (delayed) 2020 NCAA Tournament!

Now, hope they get some W's!

The Buffs (9-5-2, 5-4-2) are scheduled to open up tourney play facing the Sun Belt Conference regular season and Tourney champions South Alabama Jaguars (13-8-1, 8-2-0) next Tuesday starting at 5:00 PM MT in Greensboro, North Carolina. The winner is slotted to face overall #10 seed Oklahoma State, with that match currently scheduled for Friday, April 30th, also with a 5:00 PM MT start time.

We can (and I plan to) add more info into this thread as the 1st match gets closer and then once it starts, but here's the initial article after the Buffs were selected-



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2021/4/19/soccer-colorado-off-to-12th-ncaa-tournament.aspx


"
BOULDER — Colorado soccer will head back to North Carolina as one of the 48 teams selected to the NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Buffaloes, an at-large selection, will take on South Alabama in the first round on Apr. 27 (5 p.m. MT) at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C.

"I can make the argument that the length of the season, all the challenges everybody had to go through, the shrunk-down bracket with less at large slots that this might be our best regular season we've ever had," head coach Danny Sanchez explained after the selections were announced. "Going into the last stretch of games we knew we had to get results, and we did against very good teams. I couldn't be more proud of this group."

CU's selection marks the 12th in program history and the sixth since Coach Sanchez took over in 2012. It is CU's second consecutive trip to the tournament and its fourth in five seasons. Colorado is 10-11-1 all-time in tournament games, advancing to the third round in both 2006 and 2013.

"It was pure excitement [to hear Colorado announced]," junior Hannah Sharts exclaimed. "We've worked so hard since the end of June to get to this point. We've done all the right things and I'm really happy we got rewarded in the end. We're not done yet. We're very excited."

The Buffs finished the regular season on a four-match unbeaten streak, knocking off Oregon, No. 17 Arizona State and Utah. CU boasted the most ranked wins in program history this season, defeating No. 10 California, No. 14 USU and the aforementioned Sun Devils. CU also had a quality win in the season-opener against Denver, the winners of the Summit League Championship.

Colorado, one of five Pac-12 teams to make the tournament, finished 5-4-2 in the conference this season, besting its mark of three wins in the 2019 season.

"I felt that we deserved a spot in the 48-team bracket," Sanchez continued. "We look forward to competing with South Alabama. They are a very good team. Very well-coached and are always in the tournament. It'll be a huge challenge for us, but we're excited to have the opportunity."

Next Tuesday's contest will be the first meeting between the Buffs and the Jaguars. South Alabama finished its season with a 13-8-1 overall record and defeated Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Championship back in November. The Jaguars played eight spring matches, going 3-5 leading up to the NCAA Tournament.

Different from previous tournaments, all 48 teams will travel to North Carolina. Previously the tournament featured a 64-team field, with matches hosted on campus sites. This season matches will take place at various campus locations including Campbell, East Carolina, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro and Wake Forest. Off-campus sites include Bryan Park (Greensboro), J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex (Wilson, N.C.), Sportsplex (Matthews, N.C.) and WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.).
"
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Other general tourney links -
NCAA full tourney official bracket - https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/soccer-women/d1/2021

Archive of NCAA Tourney selection show - https://www.ncaa.com/video/soccer-women/2021-04-19/di-womens-soccer-2020-selection-show
(The Buffs selection is announced late in the show. I can't see a way to advance the video.)

NCAA post-selection Article - https://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-wo...ip-selections-announced?utm_campaign=trending
_______________________________________________________________________________________

More on South Alabama:
Roster - https://usajaguars.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster
(Their top 2 scorers are from England and Scotland. Overall, looks like ~1/2 the roster is international, with the other half all being from the South.)
Stats - https://usajaguars.com/documents/2021/4/12/2020_stats.pdf
Schedule/ results for this season - https://usajaguars.com/sports/womens-soccer/schedule
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

1st round match links (Will be provided when available):

Live stats - Not available as I type this.

Live Video - Not available as I type this.
(In the NCAA post-selection article linked to above, it does say "Each of the first four rounds will be available on NCAA.com, while the women’s national semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and the final will be broadcast live on ESPNU.")

What looks to be the potential NCAA page for this match -
www.ncaa.com

South Ala. vs Colorado DI Women's Soccer Game Summary - | NCAA.com

Live scores from the South Ala. and Colorado DI Women's Soccer game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com

Match notes -

NCAA 1 (PDF) - University of Colorado Athletics

NCAA 1 (PDF)
cubuffs.com cubuffs.com
 
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With the 1st round match now 2 days away, we now have what I assume is the official preview for the scheduled match against the Jaguars. (The Buff "Match Notes" are now available, and I've added a link to them in the "Media links" section at the bottom of the original post.)



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2021/4/26/soccer-buffs-open-ncaa-tournament-on-tuesday.aspx

"
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Colorado squares off with South Alabama to open the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday. The Buffaloes, making their second consecutive tournament appearance and 12th overall, will kick off against the Jaguars at 5 p.m. MT live on NCAA.com.

Colorado (9-5-2) carries a four-game unbeaten streak into the tournament. The Buffs controlled their destiny for the better part of the last two weeks, knowing they needed to get results on the board to make the postseason tournament. CU did its part, going 3-0-1 down the stretch and the NCAA reciprocated last Monday, awarding Colorado a coveted at-large bid.

"We were pretty excited to see our name come up," head coach Danny Sanchez commented. "We felt pretty good about making the tournament, but you never know because there was no RPI this year. There were so many factors that went into it [selections]. To have the players go through all of it [the season] and now have a little bit of a reward at the end is exciting for them, but they're also not content just to make it. I think we want to do well here and see what happens. I think that if there is a year that something could happen, I think this is the year."

The Buffs scored three top-25 wins this season, making the most in program history, despite the shortened season. CU upset No. 10 California on the road and then got home wins over No. 14 USC and No. 17 Arizona State. CU's 3-2 overtime win against the Trojans catapulted the Buffs to a 5-2-1 finish. Colorado has nine goals in the stretch scored by five different players. Pac-12 All-Freshman Shyra James led the team, scoring three of her team-high five goals in the final eight matches.

Unlike CU's recent NCAA Tournament trips, the team doesn't get to play from the comfort of home. Previously, the Buffs have been able to host the first-round games just a few days after the selections. This season all 48 teams travel to North Carolina, with the Buffs' last game more than a week old.

"We've been playing NCAA Tournament games the last two weeks," Sanchez added. "We couldn't drop any results and we did it. I think it was good to be able to kind of catch our breath a little. We got out here yesterday, train today and obviously play tomorrow night."
...

South Alabama (13-8-1) locked up its NCAA Tournament bid by winning the Sun Belt Conference in November. The Jaguars went 10-3-1 in the fall and resumed their season in February. South Alabama lost its last two by a combined 6-0 deficit to Auburn and Ole Miss, leading up to the tournament. Brenna McPartlan leads the Jags with 11 goals and nine assists.

The winner of Tuesday night will advance to take on Oklahoma State (12-3-1) on Friday (5 p.m. MT).
"
 
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Match day!

(Cool the match coverage will be accessible through a readily available (Youtube) platform!)


 
I just got home, and the 1st round match began awhile ago. There's no score with around 12 minutes left in the 1st half.

 
And it's still scoreless at the half. (Must say I LOVE Youtube streams- one of the best hosts for that kind of thing.)
 
Buffs lost 1-0. Not their best performance. And USA's goal was a wacky one in that it appeared to bee a cross in that Hansen came out to collect but was distracted by a runner in the box and thus the ball wasn't touched and went into the goal.

Watched all but the first 15 minutes or so. Very disappointing in that the Buffs' attack was anemic, and I'm being polite. There was very little movement off the ball and too much hope that a set piece would come to the rescue (it almost did when Hopcroft found the head of James in the box off a free kick, but the header was off target).

Prior to this match I felt CU had really improved over the course of the season in terms of generating quality chances. But tonight was a step back. And unfortunately CU will have to wait till November to get another shot at winning an NCAA tourney match.
 
Best wishes to the members of the team that are returning, and hope all goes well in the future for those not coming back (I know of only 2 at this point).


 
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