UGA Women’s Soccer: Georgia Earns No. 4 Seed in NCAA Tournament; Hosts Liberty Friday

ATHENS, Ga. – Following the first SEC Tournament championship in school history, the University of Georgia soccer team was awarded a top-16 national seed in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, earning bids in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008-09.

Georgia (11-4-5, 4-3-3 SEC) received the No. 4 seed in the Clemson Regional and will host Conference USA champion Liberty on Friday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Turner Soccer Complex. Friday’s match will mark a second-straight home tournament opener in Athens. The match will be streamed to paid subscribers on ESPN+.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 each, with all tickets being general admission. The Turner Soccer Complex will open one hour prior to the start of the match. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the UGA Ticket Office. All tickets must be purchased prior to the match, with no on-site sales available.

If Georgia advances to the Second Round, it will take on the winner of Friday’s Iowa-Bucknell match. The meeting between the Hawkeyes and Bison will kick off at 4 p.m. EST in Iowa City.

Georgia, one of eight SEC teams to earn a selection, is making its 11th tournament appearance, entering the 64-team field with a 7-10-1 all-time record in the event. In its history, the program has hosted four NCAA Tournament matches, including wins over Wake Forest (1997), Alabama A&M (2007), and Samford (2022). The Bulldogs defeated Samford, 2-0, at home last season before falling, 3-1, in the second round to eventual national runner-up North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The program’s longest tournament run came in 1998 when it advanced to the Round of 16 before falling to Dartmouth. The No. 4 seed earned by this year’s team is the second highest in program history, trailing only a No. 3 seed earned in 2007.

Georgia and Liberty have played once before, with the Bulldogs prevailing, 8-0, on Sept. 26, 2003, in Athens. In the match, Georgia’s Jessica Winton set a program record with four goals scored. Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine faced the Flames five times while at Birmingham-Southern, going 2-3 in the series from 2002-05.

Georgia is looking to carry the momentum from its SEC Championship run, which started with comeback wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M before a shutout of No. 10 Arkansas in the final. In Sunday’s win, the Bulldogs became only the second team this season to shut out the Razorbacks and earned their first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2021. Graduate midfielder Croix Bethune earned SEC Tournament MVP honors with two goals and an assist, including the last-minute winner in double overtime against Texas A&M. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown tallied 22 saves in three matches, highlighted by a career-high 11 stops against the Aggies.

For complete information on Georgia soccer, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGASoccer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.