Nov. 1, 2008
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- Iowasoccer.com
IOWA CITY, IA – The 2008 Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament bracket has been set, with the announcement coming from the conference office Saturday. The tournament kicks off this Thursday, Nov. 6, at the UI Soccer Complex in Iowa City.
Penn State (13-7-0, 8-2-0) garnered the number one seed after sharing the regular season title with Minnesota. The Nittany Lions have won 11-straight Big Ten titles, and will play No. 8 seed and host Iowa (9-10-1, 3-6-1) Thursday at 4 p.m. Penn State defeated Iowa in overtime, 1-0, Oct. 19 in State College, PA. The two teams also played in the opening round of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament, as Penn State downed the Hawkeyes, 3-1.
“Playing Penn State will be an awesome challenge for our team,” said Head Coach Ron Rainey. “They are the standard for our league and our team is looking forward to playing them Thursday.”
Minnesota (18-2-0, 8-2-0) earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will take on No. 7 Northwestern (10-8-1, 5-5-0) in the opener at 10 a.m. Northwestern won its way into the tournament by defeating Wisconsin, 1-0, Oct. 31.
Purdue (11-6-3, 5-3-2) is the No. 3 seed and will match up with No. 6 Ohio State (8-9-2, 5-5-0) at 1 p.m. To close out the field, fourth-seeded Michigan State (13-5-2, 5-4-1) will take on fifth-seeded Illinois (11-8-0, 5-5-0) at 7 p.m.
The Big Ten Network will provide television coverage of the 2008 Big Ten Tournament for the second season in a row. The semifinals will be played Friday, Nov. 7, at 1 and 3:30 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcast live by the network. The championship contest will kick off Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. (CT) with the Big Ten Network providing live coverage.
Full Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 6
Game 1, 10:00 a.m.: No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 7 Northwestern
Game 2, 1:00 p.m.: No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 6 Ohio State
Game 3, 4:00 p.m.: No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 8 IOWA
Game 4, 7:00 p.m.: No. 4 Michigan State vs. No. 5 Illinois
Friday, Nov. 7
Game 5, 1:00 p.m.: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Game 6, 3:30 p.m.: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Sunday, Nov. 9
Championship Game, 2:00 p.m.: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner