Founded 1982 Television broadcasters ESPNU Number of teams 64 | Current champions USC (2) Website NCAA.com | |
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Most successful club(s) North Carolina (21 and 3-time runner-up) Notre Dame (3 and 5-times runner-up)
Portland (2 and 1-time runner-up) Instances 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament | ||
The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national champion.
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History
The NCAA began conducting a single division Women's Soccer Championship tournament in 1982 with a 12-team tournament. The tournament became the Division I Championship in 1986, when Division III was created for non-scholarship programs. Currently, the tournament field consists of 64 teams. The semifinals and final of the tournament, held at a single site every year, are collectively known as the Women's College Cup (analogous to the College Cup in men's soccer).
Historically, North Carolina has been the dominant school in Division I women's soccer. Known widely as one of the most successful collegiate programs in any NCAA sport, the Tar Heels have won 21 national championships of the 31 NCAA tournaments contested. Also, they have reached the College Cup 26 times. Head coach Anson Dorrance is considered one of the greatest women's soccer coaches in NCAA history, leading the Tar Heels since the inception of the program in 1979.
Only two other schools have multiple titles, Notre Dame (3 titles, 5-times runner-up and 12 College Cup appearances) and Portland (2 titles, 1-time runner-up and 8 College Cup appearances).