Georgia Earns No. 8 Seed; Will Host Ohio State Friday in NCAA First Round
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia soccer team was awarded a No. 8 seed in the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, earning a fourth consecutive postseason bid for the first time in program history.
No. 19 Georgia (10-4-6, 6-1-3 SEC) will play in the Notre Dame quadrant of the bracket and will face Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. at the Turner Soccer Complex. Friday’s match will mark the fourth-straight tournament opener in Athens, also a program first. The match will stream live 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, by calling the UGA Ticket Office, or with on-site purchasing on Friday.
If Georgia advances to the Second Round, it will take on the winner of Saturday’s Notre Dame-UIC match. The meeting between the Fighting Irish and Flames will kick off at 6 p.m. EST in South Bend, Indiana.
Georgia, one of nine SEC teams to earn a selection, is making its 13th tournament appearance, entering the 64-team field with a 9-11-2 all-time record in the event. In its history, the program has hosted six NCAA Tournament matches, including wins over Wake Forest (1997), Alabama A&M (2007), Samford (2022), and Liberty (2023). Last season, the Bulldogs fell, 3-2, to Colorado in the first round in Athens, following a Sweet 16 trip in the 2023 season.
Georgia recently completed one of the strongest regular seasons in program history, finishing third in the SEC and reaching the SEC Tournament semifinals. During the season, the Bulldogs earned their first-ever victory over defending national champion North Carolina and gave SEC regular season champion Arkansas its only conference loss. Redshirt junior midfielder Summer Denigan earned First Team All-SEC honors with 11 goals, the first double-digit scorer since Mollie Belisle in 2021. Senior defender Cate Hardin and junior midfielder Kiera Staude received Second Team All-SEC accolades, while goalkeeper Hannah Folliard and forward Mya Townes were named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Ohio State (8-4-6, 4-2-5 Big Ten) is making its 15th appearance in the last 17 seasons under head coach Lori Walker-Hock. Last season, the Buckeyes advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Wake Forest. This season, Ohio State was dominant on the defensive front, only allowing 11 goals thanks to senior Molly Pritchard, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. Pritchard, who holds the program record with 30 career shutouts, joined with fellow First Team honoree Mirann Gacioch to hold opponents scoreless for over 700 minutes during the season. Junior forward Mandy Schlueter was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as she led the team with eight goals and four assists.
Friday’s match will mark the first-ever meeting between Georgia and Ohio State. The Bulldogs have previously hosted two Big Ten opponents this season, splitting August matchups against UCLA (L, 1-0) and Michigan (W, 3-0). In the NCAA Tournament, Georgia’s lone previous Big Ten encounter was a 3-2 victory over Iowa in the 2023 Second Round.
No. 19 Georgia (10-4-6, 6-1-3 SEC) will play in the Notre Dame quadrant of the bracket and will face Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. at the Turner Soccer Complex. Friday’s match will mark the fourth-straight tournament opener in Athens, also a program first. The match will stream live 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, by calling the UGA Ticket Office, or with on-site purchasing on Friday.
If Georgia advances to the Second Round, it will take on the winner of Saturday’s Notre Dame-UIC match. The meeting between the Fighting Irish and Flames will kick off at 6 p.m. EST in South Bend, Indiana.
Georgia, one of nine SEC teams to earn a selection, is making its 13th tournament appearance, entering the 64-team field with a 9-11-2 all-time record in the event. In its history, the program has hosted six NCAA Tournament matches, including wins over Wake Forest (1997), Alabama A&M (2007), Samford (2022), and Liberty (2023). Last season, the Bulldogs fell, 3-2, to Colorado in the first round in Athens, following a Sweet 16 trip in the 2023 season.
Georgia recently completed one of the strongest regular seasons in program history, finishing third in the SEC and reaching the SEC Tournament semifinals. During the season, the Bulldogs earned their first-ever victory over defending national champion North Carolina and gave SEC regular season champion Arkansas its only conference loss. Redshirt junior midfielder Summer Denigan earned First Team All-SEC honors with 11 goals, the first double-digit scorer since Mollie Belisle in 2021. Senior defender Cate Hardin and junior midfielder Kiera Staude received Second Team All-SEC accolades, while goalkeeper Hannah Folliard and forward Mya Townes were named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Ohio State (8-4-6, 4-2-5 Big Ten) is making its 15th appearance in the last 17 seasons under head coach Lori Walker-Hock. Last season, the Buckeyes advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Wake Forest. This season, Ohio State was dominant on the defensive front, only allowing 11 goals thanks to senior Molly Pritchard, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year. Pritchard, who holds the program record with 30 career shutouts, joined with fellow First Team honoree Mirann Gacioch to hold opponents scoreless for over 700 minutes during the season. Junior forward Mandy Schlueter was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as she led the team with eight goals and four assists.
Friday’s match will mark the first-ever meeting between Georgia and Ohio State. The Bulldogs have previously hosted two Big Ten opponents this season, splitting August matchups against UCLA (L, 1-0) and Michigan (W, 3-0). In the NCAA Tournament, Georgia’s lone previous Big Ten encounter was a 3-2 victory over Iowa in the 2023 Second Round.
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