2023 Southern Conference women's soccer tournament explained

Year:2023
Conference:Southern Conference
Gender:women's
Teams:10
Matches:9
Attendance:5,025
Venue:Campus Sites (#7 & #8 seed - First Round)
Campus Sites (#1 & #2 seeds - Quarterfinals & Semifinals)
Campus Sites (#1 seed - Final)
Champions:Western Carolina
Titlecount:3rd
Coach:Chad Miller
Coachcount:1st
Broadcast:ESPN+
Mvp:Paige McAra
Mvpteam:Western Carolina

The 2023 Southern Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southern Conference held from October 24 through November 5, 2023. The tournament was held at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting. The ten-team single-elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Samford Bulldogs were the defending champions.[1] Samford was not successful in their title defense. They reached the final but fell 1–0 to Western Carolina.[2] [3] This was the third Southern Conference tournament title for the Western Carolina women's soccer program and first for head coach Chad Miller. The tournament title was Western Carolina's first since 2008.[4] As tournament champions, Western Carolina earned the Southern Conference's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.

Seeding

All ten teams from the regular season qualified for the 2023 Tournament. Seeding was based on regular season records of each team. A tiebreaker was required to determine the second and third seeds of the tournament after East Tennessee State and Samford tied with identical 6–1–2 regular season records. The two teams tied their regular season meeting 1–1. East Tennessee State won the second tiebreaker and was awarded the second seed. A second tiebreaker was required to determine the fifth through seventh seeds as Chattanooga, Mercer, and UNC Greensboro all finished with identical 4–4–1 conference records. The three teams records against each other was considered as the tiebreaker. UNC Greensboro came out on top as they defeated Chattanooga and tied with Mercer. Chattanooga was the sixth seed as they defeated Mercer but lost to UNC Greensboro. Mercer was the seventh seed as they lost to Chattanooga and tied UNC Greensboro.[5]

SeedSchoolConference RecordPoints
1Western Carolina7–2–021
2East Tennessee State6–1–220
3Samford6–1–220
4Furman3–1–514
5UNC Greensboro4–4–113
6Chattanooga4–4–113
7Mercer4–4–113
8Wofford2–5–28
9VMI1–8–03
10The Citadel0–7–22

Bracket

Source:[6]

Schedule

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

All-Tournament team

Source:[7]

Player Team
Grace DuncanThe Citadel
Grace EatzEast Tennessee State
Madi Hook
Camryn BolickFurman
Addison Corn
Jamie HlebecMercer
Taylor MentzerUNC Greensboro
Lindsay OrigliassoSamford
Mary Raymond
Jennifer Seward
Birna JohannsdottirChattanooga
Barrett CallejoVMI
Alexis DeMarcoWestern Carolina
Naya Marcil
Paige McAra
Ava Robitaille
Meara KellyWofford
MVP in bold

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2022 SoCon Women's Soccer Championship. May 30, 2023. Southern Conference. soconsports.com.
  2. Web site: 2023 SoCon Women's Soccer Championship. January 4, 2024. Southern Conference. soconsports.com.
  3. Web site: Catamount women's soccer draws Alabama in the NCAA first round. themountaineer.com. The Mountaineer. November 9, 2023. January 3, 2023.
  4. Web site: Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Record Book. Southern Conference. soconsports.com. January 4, 2024.
  5. Web site: Western Carolina wins regular-season title; earn No. 1 seed. soconsports.com. Southern Conference. October 22, 2023. January 3, 2024.
  6. Web site: 2023 Women's Soccer Championship. soconsports.com. Southern Conference. January 3, 2024.
  7. Web site: Western Carolina wins 2023 SoCon Women's Soccer Championship. soconsports.com. Southeastern Conference. November 5, 2023. January 3, 2024.