INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Six is the magic number of teams that will qualify for the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship West Regional Rounds, and No. 6 is the spot Hawai'i Hilo occupies in the second NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Regional Rankings released Wednesday morning.
The Vulcans (10-2-1 overall) were announced in last week's teaser of the first top eight teams listed in alphabetical order as Point Loma was unveiled as the No. 1 out of the West Region.
Hawai'i Hilo recently ended its 35-game regular season win streak with defeats to PLNU and Concordia University Irvine, the latter of which came in one spot ahead at No. 5 in the NCAA West Region Rankings.
The Vulcans still have a path to claiming their third consecutive Pacific West Conference trophy but will need some help to accomplish the task.
The champions from each of the PacWest Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association and Great Northwest Athletic Conference will automatically earn one of the six postseason bids up for grabs, leaving three at-large spots to be determined by the final NCAA Regional Rankings. One more iteration will be released next Wednesday before the announcement of teams at the NCAA Selection Show set for Monday, Nov. 13.
Hawai'i Hilo wraps up the regular season with its final home match this Saturday against Azusa Pacific before finishing on O'ahu against Chaminade on Nov. 12.
NCAA West Region Rankings - NOV. 1, 2023
1. Point Loma (8-3-1)
2. Cal State LA (7-1-8)
3. Seattle Pacific (11-2-4)
4. Western Washington (10-3-4)
5. Concordia University Irvine (11-1-1)
6. Hawai'i Hilo (10-2-1)
7. Chico State (11-5-1)
8. Cal State San Marcos (8-2-5)
LUCKY 13
The Vulcans came in at No. 13 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 Poll released Tuesday, moving back three spots from their previous rank of No. 10.
Hawai'i Hilo narrowly fell short, 2-1, in a top-10 showdown to then-ranked No. 8 Concordia University Irvine on Oct. 30 at the Vulcan Soccer Field.
CUI moved up to No. 5 in the national poll while also repeating atop the West Regional Rankings.
Hawai'i Hilo started the season at No. 14 and reached the program's highest ranking for two weeks at No. 5.
