The ACU women's soccer team is heading to a conference tournament for the first time in more than four years as the Wildcats qualified for the WAC Women's Soccer Tournament on Sunday.
ACU enters as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 1 seed Utah Valley, who is also hosting the event at its brand-new, $30 million UCCU Stadium. The semifinal match is Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT. California Baptist and Utah Tech, the respective second and third seeds, play earlier that day at 4 p.m. CT.
The championship match is Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. All matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.
This is the first time the Wildcats have advanced to the WAC tournament. ACU's last conference tournament appearance was in the spring of 2021 for the Southland Conference's pandemic-delayed event where the Wildcats won a quarterfinal match over UIW, and then lost in the semifinal to Sam Houston.
ACU was in last place in the WAC standings entering the regular season's final day. Their slim tournament hopes rested on all three league games falling their way.
First, the Wildcats needed to beat CBU -- which they did, 2-1, with a late goal from
Shakira Kafero-Roberts. Second, Tarleton State needed to lose to Utah Valley -- which they did, 3-0. And thirdly, ACU needed to wait until Sunday night to watch the Utah Tech vs. Southern Utah match. If the Thunderbirds won, ACU's season was over. But, if Utah Tech won or tied then the Wildcats were heading to the tournament.
The Trail Blazers made sure there was little drama as they built a 4-1 halftime lead, and then added another four goals in quick succession to vanquish their rival Southern Utah.
ACU's last tournament championship came in 2018 when the Wildcats cruised through three games in the SLC Tournament to win the league and head to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
