Country United States | Teams 64 | |
Dates November 15–December 7, 2001 Champions Santa Clara Broncos
(1st title, 8th College Cup) Runners-up North Carolina Tar Heels
(19th title match, 20th College Cup) Semi-finalists Florida Gators
(2nd College Cup)
Portland Pilots
(6th College Cup) | ||
The 2001 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament (also known as the 2001 Women's College Cup) was the 20th 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 Southern Methodist University's Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas from December 5–7, 2001.
Contents
Santa Clara defeated North Carolina in the final, 1–0, to win their first national title. The Broncos (23–2) were coached by Jerry Smith.
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player was Aly Wagner from Santa Clara, and the Most Outstanding Defensive Player was Danielle Slaton, also from Santa Clara. Wagner and Slaton, along with nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The tournament's leading scorer, with 5 goals and 4 assists, was Abby Wambach from Florida.
Qualification
All Division I women's soccer programs were eligible to qualify for the tournament. The tournament field expanded from 48 teams to its current size of 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, only eight of which were actually seeded, hosted four teams at their home fields during the tournament's first weekend.
National Seeds
- North Carolina
- Santa Clara
- UCLA
- Portland
- Stanford
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Connecticut