Bay Area schools Santa Clara University and Cal were both selected to the NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup on Monday.
The field of 48 teams was unveiled live on ESPNU Monday afternoon. Santa Clara (10-5-5) travels to Sacramento State (10-4-7) for its first-round game on Thursday at 1 p.m. Cal (12-2-3), the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament, plays the winner of Big West Conference Tournament champ UC Santa Barbara (13-4-3) and Denver (9-6-4) on Sunday in Berkeley.
Santa Clara went unbeaten in 13 of its final 14 games and clinched a post-season berth on the final day of the season. The Broncos will make their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years under coach Cameron Rast.
Awaiting Santa Clara is another Northern California representative, Sacramento State. The Hornets won three games in the MPSF Tournament to earn the conference's automatic qualifier. Santa Clara will be challenged on the road. Sac State is riding a 20-game unbeaten streak at Hornet Soccer Stadium.
Under the guidance of former San Jose Clash player Kevin Grimes, Cal reached the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in 11 years. As the No. 6 seed, Cal receives a first-round bye, setting up a potential date with College Cup host UC Santa Barbara.
