Hamilton College has received an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. The 64-team field was announced on Monday, Nov. 6.
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The Continentals (10-5-2 overall) will play Misericordia University in a first round game at SUNY Geneseo in Geneseo, N.Y., at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11. Geneseo will take on Penn St.-Berks in the other first round matchup at 11 a.m., and the winners will meet in the second round at Geneseo at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12.
Hamilton finished in sixth place in the NESCAC regular season standings and was ranked seventh in the New England Region by the NCAA. The Continentals posted a 1-0 win on the road against Middlebury College in a NESCAC championship quarterfinal on Oct. 28 and nearly pulled off another upset in the conference semifinals at Williams College on Nov. 4. Hamilton led 2-1 at the half against Tufts University, but the Jumbos rallied for a 3-2 victory. Middlebury, Tufts, and Connecticut College also received at-large bids, and Williams earned an automatic bid for winning the conference title.
The Continentals are in the national tournament for the fourth time in program history. Colette Gilligan, who is in her 16th year as head coach, has guided the women's team to the NCAA playoffs all four times. Hamilton advanced to the third round in 2004, the quarterfinals in 2007 and the second round in 2010. The Continentals won at least one game in each of those three tournaments.
Misericordia (14-4-2) grabbed an automatic bid by capturing the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom championship on Saturday. After the Cougars tied for second in the regular season conference standings, they defeated DeSales University 2-0 in the conference semifinals on Oct. 31 and edged Wilkes University 1-0 in double overtime in the final on Nov. 4. Misericordia, which is located in Dallas, Pa., received votes in the most recent Division III Top 25 coaches poll and was ranked fourth in the Mid-Atlantic Region by the NCAA.
