Road to the Championship

National Participation
There are 347 NCAA member institutions that sponsor Division I Women’s Soccer teams, but only 337 programs are eligible to compete in the National Championship, due to 11 programs still in the re-classification process. The 348 programs support approximately 8,300 Women’s Soccer student-athletes across the country.

Selection Process
The championship provides for a field of 64 teams. Thirty-one conference champions qualify automatically; the balance of the field is selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.

Selection Show | Monday, November 7, 2022
The 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship bracket will be announced the Monday prior to the first-round of competition. 

First Round | November 11, 12, or 13 2022
Thirty-two single-elimination first-round games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each game will advance to the second round.

Second and Third Rounds | November 18 and 20, 2022
Second and third rounds will be conducted at eight non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in a single-elimination second-round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in a single-elimination third-round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the eight third rounds advanced to the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals | November 25 or 26, 2022
Four single-elimination quarterfinals games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each of the four quarterfinals will advance to the championship final site.

Women's College Cup | December 2 and 5, 2022
The 2022 NCAA Division I Women's College Cup will be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Two single-elimination semifinal games will be held on December 2, 2022. The two teams winning in the semifinals will advance and compete in the single-elimination national championship game, which will take place on Monday, December 5, 2022.