It’s playoff time in NCAA soccer as the Division I Men’s tournament bracket was released this week, featuring a pair of Rhode Island teams along with many more across New England. While those teams are getting set for tournament play, Rhode Island’s D-III teams already opened tournament play over the weekend, with mixed results all around. As for the amateur scene, the Rhode Island Cup was played on Sunday morning and a champion was crowned.
USASL
It was a championship weekend for one local Rhode Island team. Providence City FC claimed the USASL crown with a victory over RI Arsenal Gunners at Tuckertown Park on Sunday morning. The second-seeded Rogues narrowly edged the top-seeded Gunners, 3-2.
It’s the second trophy of 2019 for the Rogues, who captured the BSSL Division 1 title over the summer.
NCAA D-I Men’s Bracket Announced
The University of Rhode Island and Providence College will both be represented in the NCAA D-I Men’s College Cup field.
Providence, which suffered a 3-1 loss to third-ranked Georgetown in the Big East Championship, drew a home match on Thursday at 7 p.m. and will host Atlantic Sun champion, New Jersey Institute of Technology. NJIT (10-4-4) earned the top-seed in the ASun Tournament and knocked off Florida Gulf Coast in the final, 2-1. It’s the first-ever meeting between the two teams and it will be played at Chapey Field in Providence.
As for URI, they captured the Atlantic 10 Tournament title with a 1-0 win over Dayton after a win over host Fordham in the semifinals, prevailing in a nine-round shootout. The Rams will travel to face Syracuse (7-6-5) out of the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse lost to fourth-ranked Virginia in the ACC Quarterfinals and will have 11 days in between games. That match will also be played on Thursday at 7 p.m. and will be the first-ever meeting between the schools.
NCAA D-I Women’s Tournament
Rhode Island’s lone representative, the Lady Bears of Brown, stayed alive with a shootout victory over Monmouth at home on Saturday. Brown advanced to the next round where they will travel to face the region’s top-seed Florida State (16-5) on Friday in Tallahassee, Florida at 5 p.m., the first meeting in history between the teams.
NCAA D-III Women’s Tournament
The lone Ocean State school in the tournament, Johnson & Wales, lost 3-0 in the tournament opener to MIT.
NCAA D-III Men’s Tournament
Both R.I. representatives, Johnson & Wales and Salve Regina, fell in their first-round matches. The Wildcats lost to Middlebury, 2-0, while the Seahawks dropped a shootout to Rowan.
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