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The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer tournament announced yesterday the 48 teams that will compete for the championship, a field that includes three Portland Thorns FC draftees: Yazmeen Ryan, Sam Coffey, and Amirah Ali.
Texas Christian University was awarded the fourth overall seed in the tournament. The Horned Frogs were led in part by the Portland Thorns’ first selection of the 2021 NWSL Draft, Yazmeen Ryan.
TCU finished 11-1-1 and secured an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Big 12 Conference. Ryan contributed seven goals and three assists throughout the season.
The Horned Frogs received a first-round bye and will play the winner of New Mexico versus Navy in their first NCAA tournament match.
Penn State was also awarded a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Thorns’ second pick of the 2021 NWSL Draft, Sam Coffey, was an integral part of the Nittany Lions' success, scoring six goals and providing nine assists.
Coffey and the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten regular-season title, but were upset by Iowa in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State will play Alabama State in the first round and the winner will meet Vanderbilt.
Portland Thorns’ third pick of the 2021 NWSL Draft was Amirah Ali. Her Rutgers squad also received a bid to the NCAA tournament. They will take on Southeastern Louisiana. The winner of that match will take on Clemson in the second round.
Amirah Ali scored six goals and provided one assist this season. Her Scarlet Knights were beaten 2-1 in the semifinal of the Big Ten Tournament against Wisconsin.
The entire tournament will be held in Cary, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. Matches will be held at Campbell, East Carolina, and the University of North Carolina–Wilmington, as well as Bryan Park (Greensboro), J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex (Wilson), Sportsplex (Mathews) and WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary).
The first round will be played April 27–28, while the second rounds will be held April 30–May 1. The third round will be May 5, and the quarterfinals on May 9.
The semifinals will be contested May 13, and the championship game will be played May 17 at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
Each of the first four rounds will be available on NCAA.com, the semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN2, and the final will be broadcast live on ESPNU.