MILWAUKEE (MKEPanthers.com) – The Milwaukee women's soccer team will play No. 13 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The postseason contest will take place November 15 in South Bend, Ind., set for a kickoff of 6 p.m. CT.
Full NCAA Bracket (PDF)
The team found out its first-round matchup late this afternoon at a viewing party on the UWM campus when the field and bracket for the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship were announced by the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee on NCAA.com.
"What's great about it being Notre Dame, is that we were there a year ago and already played against them once [MKE tied then-#3 ND, 2-2, in the 2023 season opener]," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "We have a feel for at least what their general style is and we are not going to go in and be intimidated – and that's a good thing. We will start doing our work and figuring out when we are going to go, and plan our schedule, but we now have a target."
The Panthers (12-6-2) and the Fighting Irish (11-3-4), who are a No. 4 seed in the tournament, will square off Friday, November 15 at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. The winner of the match will face the winner of the match between Kentucky (11-4-4) and West Virginia (12-5-2) the following weekend.
"There was a reason we played the teams that we played at the beginning of the season," Boyd said regarding MKE's tough non-conference schedule. "Was it a little bit more than we should have bit off at the beginning? … Yeah, probably, but what's great about this team is it's resilient. They rode through it and didn't lose their mindset or confidence. They stayed focused on their development and what they needed to do to get ready and ultimately get to today and be in the tournament. Notre Dame is going to be similar to a lot of those teams we played early on and we are going to have to go in ready for an opponent like that."
The Panthers are making their 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 17th with the Horizon League's automatic berth. Milwaukee made previous tournament trips in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008-13, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. This will be the third time MKE will face Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament, also taking on each other in the 2012 (3-1 ND win) and 2006 (1-0 ND win) postseasons.
Milwaukee enters the NCAA Tournament at 12-6-2 and is on an 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2), including wins in eight consecutive contests – the second-longest current streak in the nation – that wrapped up this weekend with a 7-0 blowout over Robert Morris in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals and a 2-1 decision over Northern Kentucky in the title game, led by a pair of goals from Horizon League Tournament Most Valuable Player Kayla Rollins.
Rollins, who was named first-team all-league, and repeated as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year, had five goals in the two games of the postseason, upping her point total on the season to a career-best 39 (18G/3A). Her 18 goals now rank second in the NCAA, with her 39 points checking in at a tie for fourth nationally.
She is one of four players to record double-figure points this fall, along with Horizon League Player of the Year Lainey Higgins (22 points on 9G/4A), Molly O'Regan (16 points on 5G/6A), and Kristina Karlof (15 points on 5G/5A).
Rollins was joined on the all-league first team by Higgins, Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year Parker Donahugh, Anna Champine, Senya Meurer, and Elizabeth Reece. Ellie Rebmann picked up second-team accolades, with Natalie Zodrow selected to the All-Freshman Team. The six first-teamers mark a new highest-ever total (was five; four times) in program history.
In net, Donahugh has been on an impressive run down the stretch and currently has posted a league-leading 1.06 goals-against average and .787 save percentage on the season. She has nine shutouts, including one over Robert Morris in the semifinals Thursday.
Notre Dame checks in at 11-3-4 on the season after falling to Florida State in the ACC Tournament. The Irish were ranked No. 13 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches National poll (and as high as No. 7 the week prior) and were the #6 seed in that league event following a 5-1-4 run through league action. ACC Freshman of the Year Issy Engle leads the offense with 33 points and poured in 16 goals on the year, fourth-most in the nation and co-leader of the conference. She was named First Team All-ACC as one of five players on the roster with postseason accolades. Head coach Nate Norman is in his seventh season at the helm of the program in 2024.
In the past, MKE has also been sent to Minnesota (1997), Madison (2009/2019/2023), Ann Arbor (2013), California (2018), North Carolina (2020), Ohio (2021), Notre Dame three times (2006, 08, 12) and across town to Marquette four times (2001-02, 2005, 2010). They also hosted their 2011 first-round match.
First-round action will be played Nov. 15-17, while the second/third rounds will be held Nov. 22 and 24, with the quarterfinals on Nov. 29 or 30. The 43rd annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played Dec. 6 and 9 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, with the University of North Carolina and Cary, N.C., serving as hosts.
The first national semifinal will be played and broadcast live on ESPNU at 5 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 6, followed by the second semifinal beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST live on ESPNU. The national championship match will take place at 5 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 9 and will also broadcast live on ESPNU.