INDIANAPOLIS—The Barry Buccaneers were awarded the second seed in the 2014 NCAA Division II South Region Women’s Soccer Tournament and will host the Lions of both North Alabama and Saint Leo in a first round match.
The Buccaneers, who enter the tournament with an 11-1-3 mark, are making their NCAA record 21st appearance in the national tournament, 20 of them coming in Division II. The Bucs made the NCAA Division I tournament in 1987, the year before the Division II tournament was founded. This year’s bid snapped a tie with Franklin Pierce for the most Division II bids, as the Ravens failed to make the field.
The Bucs won the regular season title in the Sunshine State Conference behind Player of the Year Lavinia Nkomo, co-Defensive Player of the Year Katie Turner and Freshman of the Year Christy Grimshaw. Head coach Denise Brolly won her second straight Coach of the Year award as the Bucs repeated as champions.
Nkomo led the Bucs with six goals, including two game-winners. Turner was the only player on the team to play every minute of the regular season. Grimshaw started all 15 games as a rookie and had two goals and two assists.
The tournament will start with a matchup of Lions as third-seeded North Alabama will play sixth-seed Saint Leo on Friday, Nov. 14 at Buccaneer. Game time for that game has not yet been determined. North Alabama (14-3-1) won the regular season title in the Gulf South Conference, but fell 3-0 to Valdosta in the GSC Final. Saint Leo (12-5-0) was knocked out of the semi-finals of the SSC Tournament 3-1 by eventual champions, Rollins.
The Rollins Tars (16-2-0) host the other side of the bracket and, like the Bucs, have a first-round bye. Valdosta State (11-6-2), the fourth seed, meets fifth-seeded Christian Brothers (13-5-0) in the first round on Friday at Sandspur Field.
The two finalists in each region will advance to third- and quarterfinal-round competition to be played Nov. 21 and 23. The South Region will face the Southeast Region in the quarterfinals and this year the top remaining seed in the South has the right to host.
The semifinals and championship games will take place Dec. 4 and 6 at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted by Bellarmine and the Louisville Sports Commission.