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INDIANAPOLIS – Cal State Fullerton will travel to Stanford to play the 10th-ranked Cardinal at 7 p.m., Friday in the first round of 32nd NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, it was announced today by the Division I Women's Soccer Committee.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to represent the Big West Conference in the NCAA Tournament," seventh-year Cal State Fullerton head coach Demian Brown said. "I couldn't be happier with our draw, and I feel that our team is very comfortable and confident in traveling and looking forward to the challenges that a team like Stanford will present. I am assured our team will respond well."
Tickets will go on sale Tuesday at 9 a.m. They can be purchased online at gostanford.com, by calling 1-800-STANFORD, or by visiting the ticket office at Stanford Stadium.
Reserved tickets are $17 and bleachers are $10 for adults and $8 for students, youths, and seniors.
The Titans (8-6-7) clinched the Big West Conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth after winning their fourth league tournament championship on Sunday courtesy of a 2-1 advantage in a penalty kick shootout against UC Riverside after the teams battled to a 1-1 draw following 110 minutes of regulation (90) and overtime (20).
Titan goalkeeper and Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player Katie Pulliam made three stops during the shootout, after saving two Cal Poly penalty kicks in the semifinals on Thursday evening. The Titans, the No. 4 and lowest seed at the Big West Tournament, ousted the No. 1 seeded Mustangs on Thursday night and eliminated the third-seeded Highlanders on Sunday. Fullerton was hosting the tournament at Titan Stadium after winning the 2012 Big West regular season championship.
The Titans' last Big West Tournament title came in 2007, the last time the event was held at Titan Stadium. Fullerton also advanced on penalty kicks in the championship match to eliminate Cal Poly.
Fullerton will be making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007) and its first since 2007, which was Brown's first year at the helm of the Cal State Fullerton women's soccer program after serving as an assistant coach for three years (2004-06).
The Titans are advancing to the tournament with just eight wins, the lowest victory total a Fullerton NCAA Tournament team has had moving to the postseason. Fullerton's seven ties this season mark the most in Cal State Fullerton history.
Ranked at No. 10 in the nation by the NSCAA, Stanford completed the regular season with a record of 13-5-1 and a 6-5 mark in the Pac-12, receiving an at-large bid into the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
In 2012, Stanford lost to eventual national champion North Carolina, 1-0, in the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup. The Cardinal will be making its 23rd postseason appearance, and most recently won a national title in 2011.
The Titans boast a record of 3-4 at the NCAA Tournament with the Titans best finish in 2005 as Fullerton reached the third round before suffering a 2-1 loss to Virginia. In 2007, Fullerton's last appearance at the NCAA Tournament, the Titans were sent to top-ranked UCLA and suffered a 3-1 loss in the first round.
In four previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Titans have played UCLA on three occasions (0-3; 2001, 2006, 2007) and have been sent to Los Angeles to play the Bruins in the first round on two occasions (2001, 2007).
This will be the Titans first meeting against the Cardinal in postseason play and the programs have only met once before during the regular season, with Stanford defeating CSF 2-0 in Stanford, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2004.
The four No. 1 seeds in the 2013 NCAA Tournament include Florida State, the automatic qualifier out of the Atlantic Coast Conference and three at-large selections from the ACC in Virginia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
Thirty-one conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2013 championship, while the remaining 33 teams were selected at-large. The top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first or second rounds. When pairing teams, the committee follows geographic proximity parameters. Sites are selected for the first round to create the least number of flights.
First-round matches will be played at campus sites November 15 and 16. Second round matches will be played Friday, November 22, at campus sites, and third-round matches will be played Sunday, November 24, at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal matches will be played November 29 and 30 also on campus sites.
The 32nd annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played December 6 and December 8 at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, with Campbell University serving as host. The first national semifinal will be played and shown live on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, December 6. The second semifinal will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and air live on ESPNU. The national championship match will take place Sunday, December 8 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time and will also broadcast live on ESPNU.