The 2008 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament (also known as the 2008 Women's College Cup) was the 27th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina from December 5–7, 2008 while the preceding rounds were played at various sites across the country from November 14–29.
North Carolina defeated Notre Dame in the final, 2–1, to win their nineteenth national title. This was a rematch of the 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2006 tournament finals, all won by the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels (25–1–2) were coached by Anson Dorrance.
The most outstanding offensive player was Casey Nogueira from North Carolina, and the most outstanding defensive player was Carrie Dew from Notre Dame. Nogueira and Dew, alongside nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament team.
The tournament's leading scorers were KayAnne Gummersall from Duke (4 goals, 1 assist), Kerri Hanks from Notre Dame (4 goals, 1 assist), Casey Nogueira from North Carolina (2 goals, 5 assists), and McCall Zerboni from UCLA (4 goals, 1 assist).
Qualification
All Division I women's soccer programs were eligible to qualify for the tournament. The tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams.
Format Just as before, the final two rounds, deemed the Women's College Cup, were played at a pre-determined neutral site. All other rounds were played on campus sites at the home field of the higher-seeded team. The only exceptions were the first two rounds, which were played at regional campus sites. The top sixteen teams hosted four team-regionals on their home fields (with some exceptions, noted below) during the tournament's first weekend.
National seeds #1 Seeds#2 Seeds#3 Seeds#4 Seeds North Carolina (19–1–2) Notre Dame (21–0–0) Stanford (18–1–1) UCLA (18–0–2) Florida (17–3–1) Florida State (14–2–3) Portland (17–1–0) Virginia (13–4–3)Boston College (13–5–2) Duke (12–5–3) Texas A&M (15–4–1) Wake Forest (12–7–0)Colorado (14–4–4) Missouri (15–5–1) Oklahoma State (17–1–3) USC (15–4–1)
Teams Notre Dame RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordAuburnSECAt-large11-8-2BelmontAtlantic SunAutomatic13-6-33Boston CollegeACCAt-large13-5-2Central Conn. StateNortheastAutomatic12-6-44ColoradoBig 12At-large14-4-42Florida StateACCAt-large14-2-3HarvardIvy LeagueAuto (shared)10-3-4MarquetteBig EastAt-large11-7-3Michigan StateBig TenAt-large13-6-3MilwaukeeHorizonAutomatic18-2-2MinnesotaBig TenAt-large20-3MVSUSWACAutomatic09-10NortheasternCAAAutomatic13-8-11Notre DameBig EastAutomatic21-0South Dakota StateSummitAutomatic14-4-1ToledoMACAutomatic16-4-1 Stanford RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordDenverSun BeltAutomatic19-2-2FairfieldMAACAutomatic15-4-3GeorgiaSECAt-large11-10-1James MadisonCAAAt-large12-6-2KansasBig 12At-large12-7-2Morehead StateOhio ValleyAutomatic10-8-2Northern ArizonaBig SkyAutomatic12-6-34Oklahoma StateBig 12At-large17-1-3Penn StateBig TenAutomatic16-72PortlandWest CoastAutomatic17-1RutgersBig EastAt-large12-6-11StanfordPac-10At-large18-1-1TexasBig 12At-large12-3-4UC Santa BarbaraBig WestAutomatic12-6-33Wake ForestACCAt-large12-7Washington StatePac-10At-large10-5-5 UCLA RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordArmyPatriotAutomatic12-5-3Boston U.America EastAutomatic15-5-1BYUMountain WestAutomatic17-53DukeACCAt-large12-5-3Fresno StateWACAutomatic11-8-2Long Beach StateBig WestAt-large14-3-4PrincetonIvy LeagueAuto (shared)12-2-2RadfordBig SouthAutomatic14-1-6San DiegoWest CoastAt-large14-4-2South CarolinaSECAt-large11-6-41UCLAPac-12Automatic18-0-24USCPac-10At-large15-4-12VirginiaACCAt-large13-4-3Virginia TechACCAt-large10-8-4West VirginiaBig EastAt-large13-2-6William & MaryCAAAt-large14-5-1 North Carolina RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordCaliforniaPac-10At-large10-8-1CharlotteAtlantic 10Automatic17-3-1EvansvilleMissouri ValleyAutomatic13-4-22FloridaSECAt-large17-3-1IllinoisBig TenAt-large11-8-1LSUSECAt-large14-3-2MemphisConference USAAutomatic15-4-2Miami (FL)ACCAt-large10-8-34MissouriBig 12Automatic15-5-11North CarolinaACCAutomatic19-1-2TennesseeSECAutomatic10-10-23Texas A&MBig 12At-large15-4-1Texas StateSouthlandAutomatic12-4-4UCFConference USAAt-large13-5-3WashingtonPac-10At-large14-5-1Western CarolinaSouthernAutomatic13-7-1
Bracket
Notre Dame Bracket
Stanford Bracket
UCLA Bracket
North Carolina Bracket
College Cup
All-tournament team Casey Nogueira, North Carolina (most outstanding offensive player) Carrie Dew, Notre Dame (most outstanding defensive player) Lauren Cheney, UCLA Yael Averbuch, North Carolina Brittani Bartok, North Carolina Whitney Engen, North Carolina Tobin Heath, North Carolina Courtney Barg, Notre Dame Kerri Hanks, Notre Dame Kelsey Lysander, Notre Dame Christen Press, Stanford
See also NCAA Women's Soccer Championships (Division II, Division III) NCAA Men's Soccer Championships (Division I, Division II, Division III)
References