Playoff Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS – The 23^rd ranked Slippery Rock University women's soccer team landed as the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic Region as The Rock earned a NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2019. SRU will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania to face off against Frostburg State University Friday at McConnell Family Stadium.

The Rock were announced as one of the 56 teams that will compete for a National Championship during the NCAA Selection Show Monday evening.

Slippery Rock will be making its 11^th overall appearance in the Division II Playoffs and its first since 2019. SRU was a staple in the NCAA Tournament from 2001-13, making nine appearances in the 13-year span.

The Division II women's soccer playoff field features 56 teams from across the nation, with each region receiving a pre-determined amount of berths based on access ratio.
 
The Atlantic Region has seven spots in the NCAA Tournament this season as the conference champions from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the Mountain East Conference will earn automatic berths in addition to five at-large selections determined by the final NPI rankings.

The NCAA Power Index (NPI) is a rankings system used in Division II and Division III to evaluate team performance. NPI considers game results and the strength of opponents to calculate a team's NPI value and ranking.

NPI calculations update throughout the season as teams play additional contests and opponent NPI values change. A team's final NPI is not determined until the final games and rankings of the season are complete.

The NPI takes place of the NCAA's previous regional rankings system and will determine the at-large teams selected to the championship after the automatic qualifiers have been decided.

For more information on the NCAA Power Index click HERE.

Gannon University earned the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region as the automatic qualifier from the PSAC. The Golden Knights hold a 16-2-3 record with an NPI of 59.851. Kutztown University slid into the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic Region after its PSAC Semifinal loss to Gannon. The Golden Bears have a record of 16-2-2 and an NPI of 59.827. Gannon and Kutztown will be the two host sites for rounds 1-3 in the Atlantic Region.

Fairmont State University and Frostburg State University sit in the three and four seeds, respectively, with Frostburg State as the automatic qualifier from the MEC. This comes to a bit of a surprise as the Bobcats had a 2-0-1 record against the Fighting Falcon, including a 4-1 victory in the MEC Championship Game.

Slippery Rock (15-3-3, 58.798) lands ahead of West Chester University (13-2-3, 58.003) and Point Park University (13-6-1, 54.762) as the final three teams in the Atlantic Region.

The Atlantic Region bracket will have three first-round matchups with Gannon receiving a first-round bye. The Golden Knights will host The Rock versus the Bobcats and will face the winner, while Kutztown will host Point Park as well as Fairmont Sate against West Chester, with the winners facing off in the second round.

The winner of the second-round matchups will play in the Atlantic Region Final for a berth in the quarterfinals. The final eight teams in the tournament will be re-seeded, with the rest of the tournament playing out as such in the bracket.

The full playoff bracket can be viewed HERE.

A full preview for The Rock's first-round matchup with be released on Thursday.


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