The 64-team NCAA Division 1 women’s soccer tournament opens with first-round games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Six teams from New England are part of the field: conference champions Harvard (Ivy League), Maine (America East), Quinnipiac (MAAC) and Central Connecticut State (Northeast Conference), as well as Brown and Providence, which merited at-large selections.
But that’s not the extent of the region’s footprint in the NCAA Tournament. Numerous players from New England have enjoyed strong seasons with outside-the-region programs.