UC Santa Cruz Set to Face Pomona-Pitzer in NCAA First Round
11/11/2024 12:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – Just a day after claiming their first Coast-To-Coast Women's Soccer Conference Championship with a 2-0 victory over No. 2 Christopher Newport, the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs heard their name called for the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship Tournament for the first time since 2019. They will travel to Southern California to take on No. 7 Pomona-Pitzer in the First Round while reigning National Champions California Lutheran and familiar NCAA program No. 22 Trinity (Tx.) will fill out the rest of the weekend pod. The Slugs are no stranger to the NCAA Tournament as this will be their 13th appearance in program history.
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UC Santa Cruz and Pomona-Pitzer squared off early in the 2024 season with the Sagehens defeating the Slugs 3-0 on Sept. 12. Since then, the Slugs have been nearly perfect, accumulating an 8-0-3 record, most notably knocking off the previously unbeaten Christopher Newport Captains this past weekend while recording ties to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and California Lutheran. The Sagehens have accumulated a 12-2-1 record since the Sept. 12 meeting with the Slugs with 1-0 losses to Chapman in the regular season and CMS in the SCIAC Tournament Championship this past weekend. With the Slugs riding momentum from a historic win over CNU with five goals on the weekend, look for a competitive matchup between UCSC and Pomona-Pitzer in a well sought out rematch from the regular season. Offense has been harder to come by for the Sagehens recently as their last five contests have all been tight 1-0 battles.
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In addition to the Slugs momentum from their streak-ending victory over the Captains, UC Santa Cruz is no stranger to defeating the host in the NCAA Tournament as they've knocked out host programs twice in their 12 appearances with wins over Cal Lutheran in 2011 and Redlands in 2008.
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See Below for NCAA Tournament History for UC Santa Cruz:
Since 1999, UC Santa Cruz has made it as far as the Sweet Sixteen in 2006 when they defeated CMS 3-0 and Webster 4-0 before falling in PKs to Hardin-Simmons in Wheaton, Illinois. Most recently, the Slugs have faced two SCIAC schools in their last three appearances, facing First Round losses to Cal Lutheran in 2019 and 2017 while falling to Pomona-Pitzer in 2016. UC Santa Cruz has not made an out of state road trip in nearly a decade ago when they traveled to San Antonio, Texas in 2015 to take on Hardin-Simmons. In their previous 12 appearances, UC Santa Cruz has only played out of state on three occasions.
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Year-By-Year NCAA Results
2019:Â Â Â 4-1 L Cal Lu
2017:Â Â Â 2-0 L Cal Lu
2016:Â Â Â 5-2 L Pomona-Pitzer
2015:Â Â Â 3-1 L Hardin-Simmons
2011:Â Â Â 1-0 W Cal Lu, 2-1 L Concordia Morehead
2009:Â Â Â 2-1 L CMS
2008:Â Â Â 2-1 W Redlands, 4-0 L to CMS
2007:Â Â Â 2-1 L Whitworth
2006:Â Â Â 3-0 W CMS, 4-0 W Webster, 0-0 Tie Hardin-Simmons
2002:Â Â Â 1-1 T Chapman (UCSC Host)
2000:Â Â Â 4-0 L Chapman
1999:Â Â Â First Round Loss
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UC Santa Cruz and Pomona-Pitzer squared off early in the 2024 season with the Sagehens defeating the Slugs 3-0 on Sept. 12. Since then, the Slugs have been nearly perfect, accumulating an 8-0-3 record, most notably knocking off the previously unbeaten Christopher Newport Captains this past weekend while recording ties to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and California Lutheran. The Sagehens have accumulated a 12-2-1 record since the Sept. 12 meeting with the Slugs with 1-0 losses to Chapman in the regular season and CMS in the SCIAC Tournament Championship this past weekend. With the Slugs riding momentum from a historic win over CNU with five goals on the weekend, look for a competitive matchup between UCSC and Pomona-Pitzer in a well sought out rematch from the regular season. Offense has been harder to come by for the Sagehens recently as their last five contests have all been tight 1-0 battles.
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In addition to the Slugs momentum from their streak-ending victory over the Captains, UC Santa Cruz is no stranger to defeating the host in the NCAA Tournament as they've knocked out host programs twice in their 12 appearances with wins over Cal Lutheran in 2011 and Redlands in 2008.
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See Below for NCAA Tournament History for UC Santa Cruz:
Since 1999, UC Santa Cruz has made it as far as the Sweet Sixteen in 2006 when they defeated CMS 3-0 and Webster 4-0 before falling in PKs to Hardin-Simmons in Wheaton, Illinois. Most recently, the Slugs have faced two SCIAC schools in their last three appearances, facing First Round losses to Cal Lutheran in 2019 and 2017 while falling to Pomona-Pitzer in 2016. UC Santa Cruz has not made an out of state road trip in nearly a decade ago when they traveled to San Antonio, Texas in 2015 to take on Hardin-Simmons. In their previous 12 appearances, UC Santa Cruz has only played out of state on three occasions.
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Year-By-Year NCAA Results
2019:Â Â Â 4-1 L Cal Lu
2017:Â Â Â 2-0 L Cal Lu
2016:Â Â Â 5-2 L Pomona-Pitzer
2015:Â Â Â 3-1 L Hardin-Simmons
2011:Â Â Â 1-0 W Cal Lu, 2-1 L Concordia Morehead
2009:Â Â Â 2-1 L CMS
2008:Â Â Â 2-1 W Redlands, 4-0 L to CMS
2007:Â Â Â 2-1 L Whitworth
2006:Â Â Â 3-0 W CMS, 4-0 W Webster, 0-0 Tie Hardin-Simmons
2002:Â Â Â 1-1 T Chapman (UCSC Host)
2000:Â Â Â 4-0 L Chapman
1999:Â Â Â First Round Loss
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