2012 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament

The 2012 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament (also known as the 2012 Women's College Cup) was the 31st annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California from November 30–December 2, 2012 while the preceding rounds were played at various sites across the country from November 9–23.

2012 NCAA women's soccer tournament

Women's College Cup
Tournament details
Country	United States
Dates	November 9–December 2, 2012
Teams	64
Final positions
Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels (21st title, 26th College Cup)
Runner-up	Penn State Nittany Lions (1st title match, 4th College Cup)
Semifinalists	Florida State Seminoles (6th College Cup) Stanford Cardinal (6th College Cup)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	63
Goals scored	180 (2.86 per match)
Attendance	67,281 (1,068 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Tiffany McCarty, FSU (7)
Best player	Offensive–Kealia Ohai (North Carolina) Defensive–Satara Murray (North Carolina)
All statistics correct as of 7/31/2015.

North Carolina defeated Penn State in the final, 4–1, to win their twenty-first national title. The Tar Heels (15–5–3) were coached by Anson Dorrance.

The most outstanding offensive player was Kealia Ohai from North Carolina, and the most outstanding defensive player was Satara Murray, also from North Carolina. Murray and Ohai, alongside nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament team.

The tournament's leading scorer, with 7 goals and 1 assist, was Tiffany McCarty from Florida State.

Qualification

Main article: 2012 NCAA Division I women's soccer season

All Division I women's soccer programs were eligible to qualify for the tournament. The tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams.

Format

Just as before, the final two rounds, deemed the Women's College Cup, were played at a pre-determined neutral site. All other rounds were played on campus sites at the home field of the higher-seeded team although with a few exceptions. The first round was played exclusively on the home fields of higher-seeded teams (noted with an asterisk below). However, the second and third rounds were played on the home fields of the home fields of the two remaining teams in each bracket with the highest seed (generally the #1 and #2 seed in each bracket with a few noted exceptions). Those teams are also noted with asterisk. Finally, the quarterfinal round, or the championship match for each bracket, was played on the home field of the higher-seeded team, with no exceptions.

National seeds

#1 Seeds	#2 Seeds	#3 Seeds	#4 Seeds
BYU (18–1–1) Florida State (16–3–0) Penn State (17–3–1) Stanford (17–1–1)	Florida (17–4–1) North Carolina (10–5–2) San Diego State (19–1–1) Virginia (16–4–1)	Baylor (17–1–4) Duke (12–5–2) UCLA (15–2–2) Wake Forest (13–5–3)	Marquette (16–2–2) Maryland (13–6–2) Ohio State (16–4–1) Portland (11–4–4)

Teams

Stanford Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Cal State Northridge Big West Automatic 11-4-6 California Pac-12 At-large 15-5 Colorado College Conference USA At-large 14-3-5 Denver WAC At-large 15-2-4 Idaho State Big Sky Automatic 11-5-3 Kentucky SEC At-large 13-6-1 Long Beach State Big West At-large 12-7 4 Maryland ACC At-large 13-6-2 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 14-6 2 San Diego State Mountain West Automatic 19-1-1 Santa Clara West Coast At-large 11-3-6 1 Stanford Pac-12 Automatic 17-1-1 Stony Brook America East Automatic 12-6-3 3 UCLA Pac-12 At-large 15-2-2 UT Martin Ohio Valley Automatic 13-5-3 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 12-7-1

BYU Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona State Pac-12 At-large 10-8-2 Auburn SEC At-large 12-10-1 3 Baylor Big 12 Automatic 17-1-4 1 BYU West Coast Automatic 18-1-1 Georgetown Big East At-large 15-3-3 Illinois Big Ten At-large 10-8-3 Illinois State Missouri Valley Automatic 13-4-2 4 Marquette Big East Automatic 16-2-2 Missouri SEC At-large 14-7 2 North Carolina ACC At-large 10-5-2 Princeton Ivy League Automatic 13-3-1 Radford Big South Automatic 14-2-4 Utah State WAC Automatic 13-2-6 Virginia Tech ACC At-large 13-5-1 Washington Pac-12 At-large 10-7-3 West Virginia Big 12 At-large 11-4-4

Penn State Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Boston College ACC At-large 10-7-3 Central Michigan MAC At-large 15-6-1 Colgate Patriot Automatic 11-5-4 3 Duke ACC At-large 12-5-2 Hofstra CAA Automatic 11-8-2 La Salle Atlantic 10 Automatic 17-4-1 LIU Brooklyn Northeast Automatic 10-7-3 Loyola (MD) MAAC Automatic 12-5-4 Miami (OH) MAC Automatic 19-2-1 Michigan Big Ten At-large 14-5-2 1 Penn State Big Ten At-large 17-3-1 4 Portland West Coast At-large 11-4-4 Rutgers Big East At-large 12-7-1 Tennessee SEC At-large 14-4-3 2 Virginia ACC Automatic 16-4-1 Washington State Pac-12 At-large 12-6-1

Florida State Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record 2 Florida SEC Automatic 17-4-1 Florida Gulf Coast Atlantic Sun Automatic 14-3-3 1 Florida State ACC At-large 16-3 Georgia Southern Southern Automatic 10-7-5 Miami (FL) ACC At-large 09-7-3 Milwaukee Horizon Automatic 08-8-1 MVSU SWAC Automatic 08-9-3 North Texas Sun Belt Automatic 16-4-2 Notre Dame Big East At-large 13-5-2 Oakland Summit Automatic 11-5-3 4 Ohio State Big Ten Automatic 16-4-1 Stephen F. Austin Southland Automatic 17-3 Texas A&M SEC At-large 17-4-1 Texas Tech Big 12 At-large 15-5-1 UCF Conference USA Automatic 17-4-1 3 Wake Forest ACC At-large 13-5-3

Bracket

Stanford Bracket

	First round November 9–11 Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 17–18 Regional Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 23 Campus Sites
	1	Stanford*	3
		Idaho State	0
						1	Stanford*	2
							Santa Clara	1
	Santa Clara*		2
	Long Beach State		1
											1	Stanford*	3
												Denver	0
	Denver*		3
	Colorado College		1
							Denver	3
						4	Maryland	2
		Stony Brook	0
	4	Maryland*	2
																1	Stanford*	2
																3	UCLA	1
	3	UCLA*	1
		Wisconsin	0
						3	UCLA	5
							Kentucky	0
	Tennessee–Martin		0
	Kentucky*		1
											3	UCLA	3
											2	San Diego State*	0
	Pepperdine*		0
	California		1
							California	1
						2	San Diego State*	2
	Cal State Northridge		0
	San Diego State*		3

BYU Bracket

	First round November 9–11 Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 17–18 Regional Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 23 Campus Sites
	2	North Carolina*	2
		Radford	0
						2	North Carolina*	9
							Illinois	2
	Illinois (2OT, PK)		1(3)
	Missouri*		1(0)
											2	North Carolina* (2OT, PK)	1(4)
											3	Baylor	1(2)
	Georgetown		3
	Virginia Tech*		2
							Georgetown	1
						3	Baylor	2
		Arizona State	1
	3	Baylor*	3
																2	North Carolina	2
																1	BYU*	1
	4	Marquette*	3
		Illinois State	0
						4	Marquette	3
							Princeton	1
	Princeton		2
	West Virginia*		1
											4	Marquette	0 (5)
											1	BYU* (2OT, PK)	0 (6)
	Auburn		2
	Washington*		1
							Auburn	0
						1	BYU*	1
		Utah State	1
	1	BYU*	2

Penn State Bracket

	First round November 9–11 Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 17–18 Regional Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 23 Campus Sites
	1	Penn State*	4
		Long Island–Brooklyn	0
						1	Penn State*	5
							Boston College	2
	Hofstra		0
	Boston College*		2
											1	Penn State* (2OT, PK)	1(3)
												Michigan	1(2)
	Michigan*		2
	Central Michigan		1
							Michigan	3
						4	Portland	0
		Washington State	2(5)
	4	Portland* (2OT, PK)	2(6)
																1	Penn State*	1
																3	Duke	0
	3	Duke*	6
		Loyola–Maryland	0
						3	Duke	4
							Miami (OH)	1
	Miami (OH)		3
	Tennessee*		2
											3	Duke	3
											2	Virginia*	1
	Colgate*		0
	Rutgers		1
							Rutgers	1
						2	Virginia*	6
		La Salle	1
	2	Virginia*	4

Florida State Bracket

	First round November 9–11 Campus Sites					Second round November 15–16 Regional Campus Sites					Round of 16 November 17–18 Regional Campus Sites					Quarterfinals November 23 Campus Sites
	2	Florida*	2
		Florida Gulf Coast	0
						2	Florida*	1
							UCF	0
	Miami (FL)		1(3)
	UCF* (2OT, PK)		1(5)
											2	Florida*	0
												Notre Dame	2
	Notre Dame*		3
	Milwaukee		1
							Notre Dame	2
						3	Wake Forest	1
		Georgia Southern	0
	3	Wake Forest*	4
																	Notre Dame	0
																1	Florida State*	1
	4	Ohio State*	1(1)
		Oakland (2OT, PK)	1(3)
						Oakland		0
						Texas A&M		3
	Stephen F. Austin		0
	Texas A&M*		1
												Texas A&M	0
											1	Florida State*	4
	Texas Tech*		2
	North Texas		0
							Texas Tech	2
						1	Florida State* (OT)	3
		Mississippi Valley State	0
	1	Florida State*	6

College Cup

	Semifinals November 30 Torero Stadium San Diego, California					Championship December 2 Torero Stadium San Diego, California
	1	Stanford	0
	2	North Carolina (2OT)	1
						2	North Carolina	4
						1	Penn State	1
	1	Penn State (OT)	2
	1	Florida State	1

All-tournament team

• Kealia Ohai, North Carolina (most outstanding offensive player)
• Satara Murray, North Carolina (most outstanding defensive player)
• Amber Brooks, North Carolina
• Crystal Dunn, North Carolina
• Adelaide Gay, North Carolina
• Maddy Evans, Penn State
• Maya Hayes, Penn State
• Christine Nairn, Penn State
• Taylor Schram, Penn State
• Emily Oliver, Stanford
• Tiffany McCarty, Florida State

Attendances

Team	Home average
Portland	3,313
BYU	3,257
Texas A&M	2,304
New Mexico	1,781
Penn St.	1,601
Stanford	1,576
Georgia	1,514
TCU	1,413
North Carolina	1,399
Florida St.	1,221
Utah	1,208
Virginia	1,172
UCLA	1,152
Notre Dame	1,118
Maryland	1,083
Tennessee	1,080
Washington	1,054
Florida	1,051
Texas Tech	1,027
Colorado	986
Texas	962
Louisville	949
West Virginia	943
Connecticut	920
Duke	905
Dayton	896
Santa Clara	875
Kentucky	873
Auburn	860
Hawai'i	856
LSU	847
Oklahoma St.	843
Arkansas	841
Kennesaw St.	840
Minnesota	830
Alabama	799
Ole Miss	796
Oregon	759
Oklahoma	748
Charlotte	740
Iowa St.	730
San Diego St.	722
Missouri	722
South Carolina	717
Idaho St.	715
Vanderbilt	713
Michigan	708
California	700
Long Beach St.	698
Northern Arizona	697
Memphis	678
Fresno St.	678
Wake Forest	678
Arizona St.	674
Rutgers	667
Utah St.	657
Cincinnati	656
Cal St. Fullerton	650
Marist	650
Virginia Tech	642
Dartmouth	627
North Carolina St.	625
South Florida	617
Michigan St.	602
Southern California	601
George Mason	599
Furman	599
Utah Valley	585
Gonzaga	583
Denver	580
UC Irvine	570
Arizona	567
Wisconsin	565
Ohio St.	562
Washington St.	560

See also

• NCAA Women's Soccer Championships (Division II, Division III)
• NCAA Men's Soccer Championships (Division I, Division II, Division III)