Waves Draw Cal in NCAA Tournament First Round
11/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
MALIBU, Calif. - The 2016 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament field was announced on Monday and the No. 20 Pepperdine women's soccer team will host a first-round game against No. 21 California on Saturday. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
It is Pepperdine's ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth time in program history that the Waves have hosted a first round game. Pepperdine hosted opening round games in 2011, 2012 and 2014, also playing Cal in that 2012 game in Malibu. The Waves have hosted their first-round matchup each of the last four times they made the NCAA Tournament field.
Pepperdine has advanced past the first round of the tournament five of the nine times it has made the postseason and has eight NCAA Tournament wins in its history. The Waves are 1-1-3 all-time against the Golden Bears.
The Waves are one of three West Coast Conference teams to make the tournament field, joining BYU and Santa Clara. Pepperdine has played six teams this season that made this year's NCAA postseason.
The Waves finished the regular season with a 12-4-3 overall record, going 7-1-1 in WCC play to earn the program's third conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine was ranked as high as No. 15 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll during the season, maintaining a spot in the rankings nearly all year.
Cal enters the postseason via an at-large bid as one of six Pac-12 schools in the tournament. The Bears finished sixth in the conference standings with a 13-5-2 overall mark and 6-3-2 league record.
Saturday's game will be streamed live on WaveCasts, with veteran broadcaster Al Epstein on the call.
