UW To Host Rider In NCAA Tourney First Round

SEATTLE – UW women’s soccer will host the Rider University Broncs on Friday, Nov. 14 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as announced by the NCAA this afternoon.

"I couldn't be happier for our players, to get a four seed and a home game in the first round," UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. "Rider is a team we'll have to do a little bit of research on, but in the NCAA Tournament it doesn't really matter. For us, it's going to be the same as it has been all year. We'll focus on one game at a time. We can start our preparation and focus on what we need to do to be at our best on Friday."

The Huskies (12-6-2, 5-4-1 Pac-12) finished with their first winning conference record since 2008 and tied for fifth in the conference.

This last time UW appeared in the NCAA Tournament was in 2012 when the Huskies lost at home to Auburn in the first round. This will be the 13th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Huskies, with their best showings coming in 2004 and 2010 when they reached the Elite Eight.

The Broncs (12-5-3) will make their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Rider finished in fourth place in the 11-team MAAC during the regular season but earned an automatic bid by winning the MAAC Tournament Championship in a shootout over Fairfield.

Friday’s game will kick off at 7 p.m. PT and will be streamed live. Tickets can be purchased online and parking is available on site for $10. Follow the action live on Twitter at @UW_WSoccer.