EAST LANSING, Mich. – For the second-consecutive season, Michigan State women’s soccer has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, as announced Monday. The Spartans are the No. 5 seed in the Provo region and will host Ohio in the first round at DeMartin Stadium on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.
The selection marks the sixth overall for the Spartans and first in back-to-back seasons since 2008-09. MSU earns a seeded selection and home game in the tournament for just the second time in program history after hosting as a No. 4 seed in 2022. The Spartans advanced to the tournament’s second round last season.
The winner of Friday’s match advances to the second round to play the winner of No. 4 seed Harvard and Maine on Nov. 17. The highest remaining seed in the region after the first round games will host the second and third rounds.
BYU is the No. 1 seed in the region, while Harvard is the No. 4 seed and USC is the No. 8 seed.
The Spartans are one of nine teams in the Big Ten to earn a bid to tournament, joining Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Non-conference opponents Colorado and Notre Dame are also in the field of 64.
MSU earns the No. 5 seed in its region after putting together a 12-4-3 (7-1-2 B1G) record in 2023 and winning its second-straight Big Ten Regular Season title. Senior midfielder Justina Gaynor was tabbed MSU’s first-ever Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, while rookie forward/midfielder Bella Najera was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Graduate defenders Raegan Cox and Celia Gaynor and sophomore Emerson Sargeant joined Najera and Justina Gaynor on All-Big Ten teams. Third-year MSU head coach Jeff Hosler has now advanced to nine NCAA Tournaments across all three divisions in his 18-year career.
Ohio qualifies for its first NCAA Tournament in program history after winning the Mid-American Conference title in a 2-1 victory over Kent State on Nov. 6. The Bobcats are 9-7-5 (4-4-3 MAC) this season.
First round matches will be played Nov. 10-12, while the second and third rounds will take place Nov. 17 and 19, respectively, and the quarterfinals on Nov. 24 and 25. The 2023 NCAA Women’s College…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Michigan State University Athletics…