Cowgirls thrilled with 10th seed at NCAAs
The team name and seed popped up in the giant bracket on the Neal Patterson Stadium video board as Oklahoma State's soccer players watched from the field and cheered.
Behind them, the fans who sat in the stands echoed the Cowgirls' celebration.
The selection show for the NCAA women's soccer tournament was broadcast in OSU's stadium Monday afternoon, and the Cowgirls secured the No. 10 overall seed with an automatic bid to the second round. After the bye, OSU will compete April 30 in Greensboro, N.C., to face the winner of the first-round matchup between Colorado and South Alabama.
Coach Colin Carmichael said because of this tournament's unusual format, he couldn't easily predict what ranking the committee would assign to the Cowgirls (12-3-1 overall, 6-2-1 Big 12), but he was pleasantly surprised.
“If I had been asked, I probably would have said we were somewhere between 14 and 20,” Carmichael said. “(That) would have been my guess, so to get a 10, I think it shows that the committee had a lot of respect for what we did, and also a lot of respect for the Big 12.”
Typically, 64 teams compete in the NCAA tournament with no byes, but the 2020-21 bracket looks a little different. When the NCAA made the decision to delay fall championships to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also narrowed the women's soccer tournament field to 48 teams. The top 16 teams, including OSU, fourth-seeded TCU and fifth-seeded West Virginia, earned byes.
The Cowgirls haven't played since they squeezed out a 2-1 overtime victory against Notre Dame on April 11, so they are figuring out how to make the most of an 18-day stretch with no games. This gives Carmichael an extra challenge because many teams have competed more recently, but it also means the Cowgirls have plenty of time to conserve energy before kicking
into postseason mode.
“We’ll have to make sure we’re managing our training and our loads correctly and trying to keep our kids sharp without doing too much,” Carmichael said. “So it’s definitely interesting. Part of me would like to play in the first round, but at the same time, how can you be upset about getting a bye to the second round of the NCAAs? We’ll definitely take that.”
As Carmichael scouts OSU’s potential first-round opponents, he anticipates a possible matchup against his alma mater. Carmichael played soccer at South Alabama, and he was later on the coaching staff of now-Cowgirl-assistant Karen Hancock in Mobile before they both relocated to Stillwater. Carmichael said he thinks it was probably sometime in the late 1990s when he last coached against his alma mater.
“That would be really cool for me to get to play against the Jags,” Carmichael said.
Regardless of the Cowgirls’ opponent, they are treasuring the opportunity to participate in a postseason after a time when they wondered whether the NCAA tournament — along with the rest of their schedule — would happen at all.
But the unpredictability of this season has brought the team together. Senior defender Charmé Morgan said handling adversity has been the Cowgirls’ biggest strength this year, and they remind one another to appreciate what they have.
“We talk about it before every game,” Morgan said. “We’re very fortunate to come out here and to still play soccer with everything that’s going on in the world, so at the end of the day, it’s just a blessing.”
Along with their grateful mindset, the Cowgirls are carrying plenty of competitive fire into the NCAA championship.
Although they have received six tournament berths during an eight-season span, simply appearing on the bracket isn’t their only goal. In the previous NCAA tournament, Santa Clara eliminated OSU in the second round with a 3-1 victory, but junior midfielder Grace Yochum is striving for a different result this time.
“Yes, it’s cool to make this tournament, especially in a year like this, but also, we want to make a run,” Yochum said.
“We want to be one of those teams that leave their mark on the NCAA tournament.”