Country United States | Teams 64 | |
Dates November 8–December 3, 2006 Champions North Carolina Tar Heels
(18th title, 22nd College Cup) Runners-up Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(5th title match, 8th College Cup) Semi-finalists Florida State Seminoles
(3rd College Cup)
UCLA Bruins
(5th College Cup) | ||
The 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament (also known as the 2006 Women's College Cup) was the 25th 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 1–3, 2006 while the preceding rounds were played at various sites across the country from November 8–25.
Contents
North Carolina defeated Notre Dame in the final, 2–1, to win their eighteenth national title. This was a rematch of the 1994, 1996, and 1999 tournament finals, all won by the Tar Heels.
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player was Robin Gayle from North Carolina, and the Most Outstanding Defensive Player was Heather O'Reilly, also from North Carolina. Gayle and O'Reilly, alongside nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The tournament's leading scorer, with 4 goals and 8 assists, was Kerri Hanks from Notre Dame.
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 hosted four team-regionals on their home fields (with some exceptions, noted below) during the tournament's first weekend.