Pirates To Face Belmont Abbey In NCAA First Round

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The No. 21-ranked and Peach Belt Conference Tournament champion Armstrong Atlantic State women's soccer squad learned its fate for the upcoming 2009 NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championships on Monday with the release of the 48-team field by the NCAA.

The Pirates (15-3-3) are the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Region and will face sixth-seeded Belmont Abbey (14-5) on Friday, November 13, in Columbus, Ga. Coaches and players gathered at the AASU Sports Center to view the NCAA's webcast of the selections on Monday evening on NCAA.com.

Columbus State (15-2-3) is the host of the sub-regional and the No. 2 seed. The winner of the AASU/Belmont Abbey match will face the Cougars on Sunday, November 15.

The other half of the six-team Southeast Region bracket pits No. 4 seed Tusculum (14-4-3) against No. 5 seed Newberry (13-4-2) on Friday in Jefferson City, Tenn. Host and top-seed Carson-Newman (18-2-1) will face the Tusculum/Newberry winner on Sunday.

This is the third NCAA Championships appearance for the Pirates in the five-year history of the program. AASU advanced to the NCAAs in 2006 and 2007, but earned at-large berths each season. This is the first year that the Pirates have earned the Peach Belt Conference's automatic bid for winning the league tournament.

Complete bracket schedules with match times will be determined on Tuesday.