The NCAA News - News & Features

Division III

Familiar names at top once more

Overview: UC San Diego and College of New Jersey (formerly known as Trenton State) have figured prominently in each of the last three championships and plan to do so again .... Top-ranked UC San Diego is 14-1 and unbeaten against Division III foes despite losing four four-year starters from last year's championship team. The 1996 Tritons have relied on Lauren Johnson and Ele Johnson, who have combined for 24 goals and 15 assists .... College of New Jersey, champion in 1993 and 1994, was beaten in the regional semifinal last year but is looking to rebound with a balanced attack. "In the past we've had two or three outstanding players," coach Joe Russo said, "but this year, collectively, we're a real strong group and our team chemistry is as strong as we've ever had." Three players have at least eight goals, including Cheryl Adranovitz with nine .... The Lions were ranked No. 1 until a 3-0 loss at Trinity (Texas). That game improved Trinity to 11-2-1 on the year and was the Tigers' 11th shutout. Senior goalkeeper Debra Hutcheson, in fact, has logged 875 consecutive minutes of scoreless soccer. The Tigers, however, are No. 2 in their region behind Randolph-Macon, which has compiled a 14-1 record behind 12 goals from Carrie Hall .... Binghamton, at 15-0, is paced by freshman forward Jamie Kissel, who has scored 16 goals and has assisted on five others.

Field: Twenty-four teams from seven regions were selected November 3.

Dates and sites: All games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. First-round games will be November 6. Regionals will be November 9-10. The semifinals and final will be November 16-17.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1461 for bracket/schedule, 5153 for semifinal results and 5154 for championship-game results. Game scores and pairings also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championship-game results will be published in the November 25 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: Binghamton coach Dave Wilson coaches both women's soccer and women's basketball. With a soccer tournament berth this year, Wilson will have led both squads to two straight postseason appearances .... Four teams have won two crowns each in the 10-year history of the championship: Rochester (1986 and 1987), Ithaca (1990 and 1991), College of New Jersey (1993 and 1994) and UC San Diego (1989 and 1995).