Country United States | Teams 64 | |
Dates November 13–December 7, 2003 Champions North Carolina Tar Heels
(17th title, 21st College Cup) Runners-up Connecticut Huskies
(4th title match, 7th College Cup) Semi-finalists Florida State Seminoles
(1st College Cup)
UCLA Bruins
(2nd College Cup) | ||
The 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament (also known as the 2003 Women's College Cup) was the 22nd 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 SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina from December 5–7, 2003.
Contents
Top seeded North Carolina defeated unranked Connecticut in the final, 6–0, to win their seventeenth national title. The undefeated Tar Heels (27–0) were coached by Anson Dorrance. The Tar Heels dominated their competition on their way to the championship, winning all six of their games by a combined score of 32–0.
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player was Heather O'Reilly from North Carolina, and the Most Outstanding Defensive Player was Catherine Reddick, also from North Carolina. O'Reilly and Reddick, along with nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament Team. O'Reilly was also the tournament's leading scorer, with 8 goals. The championship referee was Brian Kirkley from Atlanta, GA.
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, all of which were seeded for the first time ever, hosted four team-regionals on their home fields during the tournament's first weekend.