2008 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament

The 2008 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament (also known as the 2008 Women's College Cup) was the 27th 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 WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina from December 5–7, 2008 while the preceding rounds were played at various sites across the country from November 14–29.^[1]

2008 NCAA women's soccer tournament

Women's College Cup (semifinals & final)
Tournament details
Country	United States
Dates	November 14–December 7, 2008
Teams	64
Final positions
Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels (19th title, 23rd College Cup)
Runners-up	Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6th title match, 10th College Cup)
Semifinalists	Stanford Cardinal (2nd College Cup) UCLA Bruins (6th College Cup)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	63
Goals scored	203 (3.22 per match)
Attendance	61,290 (973 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	KayAnne Gummersall, DU Kerri Hanks, ND Casey Nogueira, UNC McCall Zerboni, UCLA
Awards
Best player	Offensive–Casey Nogueira (UNC) Defensive–Carrie Dew (ND)
← 2007 2009 → All statistics correct as of 7/26/2015.

North Carolina defeated Notre Dame in the final, 2–1, to win their nineteenth national title. This was a rematch of the 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2006 tournament finals, all won by the Tar Heels.^[2] The Tar Heels (25–1–2) were coached by Anson Dorrance.

The most outstanding offensive player was Casey Nogueira from North Carolina, and the most outstanding defensive player was Carrie Dew from Notre Dame. Nogueira and Dew, alongside nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament team.

The tournament's leading scorers were KayAnne Gummersall from Duke (4 goals, 1 assist), Kerri Hanks from Notre Dame (4 goals, 1 assist), Casey Nogueira from North Carolina (2 goals, 5 assists), and McCall Zerboni from UCLA (4 goals, 1 assist).

Qualification

Main article: 2008 NCAA Division I women's soccer season

All Division I women's soccer programs were eligible to qualify for the tournament. The tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams.^[3]

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.

National seeds

#1 Seeds	#2 Seeds	#3 Seeds	#4 Seeds
North Carolina (19–1–2) Notre Dame (21–0–0) Stanford (18–1–1) UCLA (18–0–2)	Florida (17–3–1) Florida State (14–2–3) Portland (17–1–0) Virginia (13–4–3)	Boston College (13–5–2) Duke (12–5–3) Texas A&M (15–4–1) Wake Forest (12–7–0)	Colorado (14–4–4) Missouri (15–5–1) Oklahoma State (17–1–3) USC (15–4–1)

Teams

Notre Dame Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Auburn SEC At-large 11-8-2 Belmont Atlantic Sun Automatic 13-6-3 3 Boston College ACC At-large 13-5-2 Central Conn. State Northeast Automatic 12-6-4 4 Colorado Big 12 At-large 14-4-4 2 Florida State ACC At-large 14-2-3 Harvard Ivy League Auto (shared) 10-3-4 Marquette Big East At-large 11-7-3 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 13-6-3 Milwaukee Horizon Automatic 18-2-2 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 20-3 MVSU SWAC Automatic 09-10 Northeastern CAA Automatic 13-8-1 1 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 21-0 South Dakota State Summit Automatic 14-4-1 Toledo MAC Automatic 16-4-1

Stanford Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Denver Sun Belt Automatic 19-2-2 Fairfield MAAC Automatic 15-4-3 Georgia SEC At-large 11-10-1 James Madison CAA At-large 12-6-2 Kansas Big 12 At-large 12-7-2 Morehead State Ohio Valley Automatic 10-8-2 Northern Arizona Big Sky Automatic 12-6-3 4 Oklahoma State Big 12 At-large 17-1-3 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 16-7 2 Portland West Coast Automatic 17-1 Rutgers Big East At-large 12-6-1 1 Stanford Pac-10 At-large 18-1-1 Texas Big 12 At-large 12-3-4 UC Santa Barbara Big West Automatic 12-6-3 3 Wake Forest ACC At-large 12-7 Washington State Pac-10 At-large 10-5-5

UCLA Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Army Patriot Automatic 12-5-3 Boston U. America East Automatic 15-5-1 BYU Mountain West Automatic 17-5 3 Duke ACC At-large 12-5-3 Fresno State WAC Automatic 11-8-2 Long Beach State Big West At-large 14-3-4 Princeton Ivy League Auto (shared) 12-2-2 Radford Big South Automatic 14-1-6 San Diego West Coast At-large 14-4-2 South Carolina SEC At-large 11-6-4 1 UCLA Pac-12 Automatic 18-0-2 4 USC Pac-10 At-large 15-4-1 2 Virginia ACC At-large 13-4-3 Virginia Tech ACC At-large 10-8-4 West Virginia Big East At-large 13-2-6 William & Mary CAA At-large 14-5-1

North Carolina Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record California Pac-10 At-large 10-8-1 Charlotte Atlantic 10 Automatic 17-3-1 Evansville Missouri Valley Automatic 13-4-2 2 Florida SEC At-large 17-3-1 Illinois Big Ten At-large 11-8-1 LSU SEC At-large 14-3-2 Memphis Conference USA Automatic 15-4-2 Miami (FL) ACC At-large 10-8-3 4 Missouri Big 12 Automatic 15-5-1 1 North Carolina ACC Automatic 19-1-2 Tennessee SEC Automatic 10-10-2 3 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 15-4-1 Texas State Southland Automatic 12-4-4 UCF Conference USA At-large 13-5-3 Washington Pac-10 At-large 14-5-1 Western Carolina Southern Automatic 13-7-1

Bracket

Notre Dame Bracket

	First round November 14–15 Regional Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 21–23 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 28–29 Campus Sites
	1	Notre Dame	5
		Toledo	2
						1	Notre Dame	1
	Alumni Field • Notre Dame, IN
							Michigan State	0
	Michigan State		2
	Milwaukee		1
											1	Notre Dame*	1
												Minnesota	0
	Minnesota		2
	Marquette		1
						Minnesota		2
	Robbie Stadium • St. Paul, MN
						South Dakota State		0
		South Dakota State	1
	4	Colorado	0
																1	Notre Dame*	2
																2	Florida State	0
	3	Boston College	3
		Central Connecticut	0
						3	Boston College	4
	Newton Soccer Complex • Newton, MA
							Northeastern	0
	Northeastern		2(4)
	Harvard		2(2)
											3	Boston College	0
											2	Florida State*	1
	Auburn		2
	Belmont		0
							Auburn	0
	AU Soccer Complex • Auburn, AL
						2	Florida State	1
		Mississippi Valley State	0
	2	Florida State	7

Stanford Bracket

	First round November 14–15 Regional Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 21–23 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 28–29 Campus Sites
	2	Portland	1
		Northern Arizona	0
						2	Portland	2
	Merlo Field • Portland, OR
							Texas	0
	Washington State		0
	Texas		1
											2	Portland*	3
												James Madison	2
	Georgia		0
	James Madison		1
							James Madison	1
	Spry Stadium • Winston-Salem, NC
						3	Wake Forest	0
		Morehead State	0
	3	Wake Forest	2
																2	Portland	0
																1	Stanford*	1
	4	Oklahoma State	1
		Fairfield	0
						4	Oklahoma State	0(2)
	Yurcak Field • Piscataway, NJ
							Rutgers	0(4)
	Rutgers		2
	Penn State		1
												Rutgers	0
											1	Stanford*	1
	Kansas		2
	Denver		1
							Kansas	0
	Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium • Stanford, CA
						1	Stanford	5
		UC Santa Barbara	0
	1	Stanford	2

UCLA Bracket

	First round November 14–15 Regional Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 21–23 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 28–29 Campus Sites
	1	UCLA	5
		Fresno State	0
						1	UCLA	1
	Drake Stadium • Los Angeles, CA
							San Diego	0
	San Diego		1
	Long Beach State		0
											1	UCLA*	1
											4	USC	0
	Virginia Tech		0
	BYU		2
						2	BYU	1(2)
	South Stadium • Provo, UT
						4	USC	1(3)
		Boston University	0
	4	USC	2
																1	UCLA*	6
																3	Duke	1
	3	Duke	5
		Radford	1
						3	Duke	1
	Koskinen Stadium • Durham, NC
							William & Mary	0
	William & Mary		3OT
	South Carolina		2
											3	Duke	2
											2	Virginia*	0
	West Virginia		2
	Princeton		0
							West Virginia	2
	Klöckner Stadium • Charlottesville, VA
						2	Virginia	3
		Army	0
	2	Virginia	2

North Carolina Bracket

	First round November 14–15 Regional Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 21–23 Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 28–29 Campus Sites
	2	Florida	2
		California	1
						2	Florida	2
	Pressly Stadium • Gainesville, FL
							UCF	0
	UCF		3
	Miami (FL)		1
											2	Florida*	1
											3	Texas A&M	2
	LSU		2
	Washington		3
							Washington	1
	Aggie Soccer Complex • College Station, TX
						3	Texas A&M	3
		Texas State	2
	3	Texas A&M	5
																3	Texas A&M	1
																1	North Carolina* (2OT)	2
	4	Missouri	2
		Evansville	0
						4	Missouri	1(3)
	Walton Stadium • Columbia, MO
							Illinois	1(4)
	Memphis		0
	Illinois		1
												Illinois	0
											1	North Carolina*	3
	UNC Charlotte		2
	Tennessee		0
							UNC Charlotte	0
	Fetzer Field • Chapel Hill, NC
						1	North Carolina	4
		Western Carolina	0
	1	North Carolina	2

College Cup

	Semifinals December 5 WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina					Championship December 7 WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina
	1	Notre Dame	1
	1	Stanford	0
						1	Notre Dame	1
						1	North Carolina	2
	1	UCLA	0
	1	North Carolina	1

All-tournament team

• Casey Nogueira, North Carolina (most outstanding offensive player)
• Carrie Dew, Notre Dame (most outstanding defensive player)
• Lauren Cheney, UCLA
• Yael Averbuch, North Carolina
• Brittani Bartok, North Carolina
• Whitney Engen, North Carolina
• Tobin Heath, North Carolina
• Courtney Barg, Notre Dame
• Kerri Hanks, Notre Dame
• Kelsey Lysander, Notre Dame
• Christen Press, Stanford

See also

• NCAA Women's Soccer Championships (Division II, Division III)
• NCAA Men's Soccer Championships (Division I, Division II, Division III)