Both the Washington University men’s and women’s soccer teams were selected to play in their respective national championship tournaments by the NCAA Selection Committee on Monday. (Image courtesy: Wash. U. Athletics)

by DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer

The NCAA Division III men’s and women’s soccer national tournament announcements were made today. And both teams from Washington University made the cut, as the Bears men and women were selected to play in this season’s championship tournament.

The Wash. U. women, who are 13-1-2 on the season and claimed their third straight UAA championship back on October 26, didn’t have to wait long to know where they’d be playing or who they’d face.

The Bears were the first team announced during the official NCAA Tournament women’s selection show, which was streamed live on NCAA.com, and they will face Beloit College of Wisconsin (9-4-5), which won the Midwest Conference Tournament over the weekend, in a dramatic match that went to overtime penalty kicks.

Wash. U. was also named one of the host schools for the first and second round games, which will be played this Friday and Sunday, at Francis Olympic Field. Game times haven’t been announced yet, but will be made public later this week.

The Wash. U. men, who won their first UAA conference title since 1999, thanks to a 1-0 win this past Saturday night over the University of Chicago, had to wait a bit longer to find out where they’d be.

The men’s selection show was nearly halfway over before the Bears’ name came up. But when it did, Wash. U. was happy about the announcement, as it was named the top seed in its region, where it will play Wisconsin-Superior (16-6-0), champions of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

Like the women’s games, the men’s first and second round games will be played on Friday and Sunday. The Wash. U. men will not be hosting though, their games will be played at North Park University’s Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago.

This weekend’s winners will advance to the sectionals, which will be played next weekend, and those winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship game, also known as the College Cup, which will be played December 3 and 5 in Greensboro, N.C.