All-Tournament Team
The all-tournament team is selected by vote from the coaches of teams participating in the championship. Junior Tara Comfort of SMU was the tournament MVP for her strong play throughout the Mustangs two games. The all-tournament team is as follows:
SMU: Tara Comfort, Diana Kelm, Erin McLeod, Jill Heinemann
Hawaii: Veronica Flores, Arlene Devitt, Liz Lusk, Carmel Hurley
Fresno State: Aimee Thompson
Tulsa: Beth Taruscio
Boise State: Abbe Roche
MVP: Tara Comfort, SMU
SMU in the NCAA Tournament
The Mustangs received a tough draw and will face Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Nov. 16 in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M is the regional host of the preliminary rounds. Teams were paired based on location, with only the top eight teams in the 64-team pool receiving a seed. The winner of the SMU/Texas match will face the winner of the SW Texas State/Texas A&M match on Nov. 18. Texas is ranked 13th in the Soccer Buzz poll and 10th in the Soccer America Top 20 with a record of 14-5-0. The Longhorns are ranked second in the Soccer Buzz Central Region rankings, while Texas A&M is the top team in the Central region. The Aggies are ninth in the Soccer Buzz poll and fifth in the Soccer America poll.
SMU Gets Respect
SMU finally worked its way back into the national polls this week. In the Soccer Buzz rankings, the Mustangs are 21 after receiving votes the past few weeks. They also climbed from fifth to fourth in the Central region rankings. In the NSCAA regional poll, SMU is fifth and received votes in the national poll. In another poll conducted by Soccer Buzz, Rice was ranked second out of seven schools that fielded a first-year Divison I program this season. The only school ranked above the Owls was Binghamton, which has fielded a team for 16 years.