The NCAA News - News Features

Division I

Parity at the top means this year's championship race will be wide open

OVERVIEW: It's been a round-robin at the top. Top-ranked Notre Dame beat second-ranked North Carolina, North Carolina beat third-ranked Santa Clara, and Santa Clara beat Notre Dame. Throw in Portland and Connecticut as contenders, and it's clear that this year's title is up for grabs. "For the first time in a long time, it's wide open," Notre Dame coach Chris Petrucelli said. Petrucelli's defending champion Fighting Irish are 16-1, including the 2-1 overtime conquest of 12-time champion North Carolina. Th e Irish, however, dropped a 3-1 decision at Santa Clara. Cindy Daws returns as one of Notre Dame's top scoring threats, with 16 goals and 12 assists. Jenny Streiffer and Monica Gerardo also have combined for 34 goals and 27 assists. "We're very mature, an d we have good senior leadership and a great deal of confidence," Petrucelli said. "Cindy Daws has carried us all season, and in the past she has stepped up in the NCAA tournament. It's good for us to have that kind of experience" .... North Carolina look s to regain the throne it lost last year when the Tar Heels fell to Notre Dame in the national semifinals. The Fighting Irish won the rematch in October with the overtime triumph, which is the Tar Heels' lone loss. North Carolina is paced by Debbie Keller and Robin Confer, who have scored 10 goals apiece. Four other players have tallied at least six goals, and goalkeepers Gretchen Overgaard and Siri Mullinix have held opponents to just five goals .... Santa Clara is 12-3-1, though the Broncos have a loss to Portland and a tie against Washington State in their last three outings. Mikka Hansen leads the Santa Clara attack with 13 goals and six assists, including one each in the 3-1 victory over Notre Dame .... Other contenders include Portland, Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

FIELD: The championship field includes 32 teams. Two teams will be selected November 11 from each of six regions, and the remaining 20 teams will be selected at large.

DATES AND SITES: First-round games will be played by November 17 on the campuses of competing institutions. Second-round games must be completed by November 24 and third-round games by December 1, all at on-campus sites. The semifinals and final will be D ecember 6 and 8 at Santa Clara.

INFORMATION/RESULTS: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1449 for bracket/schedule, 5149 for semifinal results and 5150 for championship-game results. Game scores and pairings also will be available on t he World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championship results will be published in the December 16 issue of The NCAA News.

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: North Carolina has dominated this event, winning 12 of 14 titles, including nine straight from 1986 through 1994. Eleven different teams have finished second. After North Carolina, Massachusetts has made more semifinal appearances than any other team with six. Connecticut and Colorado College have five each .... Santa Clara is the second West Coast site for the championship in the last three years. The 1997 and 1998 championships will be held at North Carolina-Greensboro.