A little under 48 hours removed from their CUNYAC Postseason Championship, the College of Staten Island women’s softball squad has learned their fate for the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The Dolphins will travel to Kean University and will take on William Paterson University in the opening round of Regional play.
The NCAA Regional Round follows a double-elimination format of play, and depending on how the Dolphins fare on Friday, they will compete again on Saturday as part of winner’s or loser’s bracket extended play. The winners of Regional play will the advance to Super Regionals, leading to the top eight schools advancing to the final round of play.
The Dolphins punched their ticket to the national tourney via an 8-1 winner over Hunter College on Saturday. It was their 17th CUNYAC Championship and third-straight under Head Coach Stella Porto and the team will now make its eighth appearance at nationals. The CUNYAC tournament wins moved to CSI to 30-10, setting a new program record for wins. The team has also won 9-straight going in to the national foray, a season-long streak.
William Paterson is a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and sport a 27-11-1 record coming in. WPU has won all six previous meetings, having met every other year since 2010. CSI did have WPU on the schedule this season, but the doubleheader was rained out. This will be the school’s first-ever meeting in postseason play, and the first-ever meeting on neutral turf.
The Dolphins are hoping for better success this year on the national stage. The team is 2-14 in NCAA Tournament play all-time, having last won a tourney game in 2007.
Be sure to follow the latest scheduling and media information, including live statistics and live video/audio of the championship through www.csidolphins.com throughout the week.
