UNC Pembroke Claims Top Seed for 2026 Conference Carolinas Women’s Soccer Championship
UNC Pembroke holds the top seed in the 2026 Conference Carolinas Women’s Soccer Championship with a National Player Index (NPI) of 60.4, conferencecarolinas.com reported. The tournament opens on Wednesday, October 28, featuring campus-site matchups across the region. The Braves secured the East Division title with an undefeated 7-0-3 divisional mark, finishing the regular season at 9-0-4 in conference play and 10-1-5 overall.
Division Leaders Earn Byes into Quarterfinal Round
Francis Marion University captured the second seed with an NPI of 59.9 following an 12-4-1 overall record and a 10-2-1 mark in conference games. Lees-McRae College earned the third seed at an NPI of 57.5 as the Northwest Division champion, posting an 8-4-1 league record and a 9-2-5 overall mark. Young Harris College secured the final bye as the Southwest Division champion, finishing with an NPI of 56.8, an 11-3-2 overall record, and a 10-1-2 conference mark.
Those four division leaders earned direct byes into the quarterfinal round scheduled for Saturday, October 31. The remaining eight tournament qualifiers compete in the opening round on Wednesday, October 28, hosted at campus sites by higher-seeded programs.
First Round Campus Matchups
Fifth-seeded Belmont Abbey College hosts 12th-seeded Southern Wesleyan University at 7:00 p.m. Belmont Abbey finished the regular season at 10-3-3 overall and 8-2-3 in league play with an NPI of 55.8, while Southern Wesleyan enters at 7-8-2 overall and 5-6-2 in conference matches.
University of Mount Olive takes the sixth seed with an overall record of 6-6-6 and a 4-3-6 conference mark, hosting 11th-seeded Chowan University at 7:00 p.m. Chowan finished conference play at 5-7-1 and 5-10-1 overall.
Seventh-seeded Barton College hosts 10th-seed Emmanuel University at 4:00 p.m. Barton enters at 9-5-3 overall and 6-4-3 in conference play. Emmanuel and Chowan finished the regular season tied with identical NPI values of 48.4 and average points per game of 1.23. The tiebreaker was resolved through regular-season results against teams from the top of the standings moving down, with Emmanuel claiming the edge based on its win against Barton.
Eighth-seeded Converse University hosts ninth-seeded North Greenville University at 5:00 p.m. Converse finished league play at 4-5-4 and 4-6-6 overall, while North Greenville enters at 3-5-5 in conference action and 3-8-5 overall.
Quarterfinal Matches Begin October 31 at Seed Sites
Quarterfinal matches take place on Saturday, October 31, hosted by the top four seeds. The winner of the 8-9 game travels to top-seeded UNC Pembroke for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff. The winner of the 5-12 matchup visits fourth-seeded Young Harris at 4:00 p.m. Third-seeded Lees-McRae hosts its quarterfinal at 3:00 p.m. against the winner of the 6-11 game, and second-seeded Francis Marion hosts the winner of the 7-10 matchup at 2:00 p.m.
The tournament advances to the neutral-site rounds at the Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, North Carolina. Semifinal matches are scheduled for Thursday, November 5, at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Saturday, November 7, at 2:00 p.m. Fans can watch every tournament game live on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network powered by Hudl, with daily passes available for $10 and all-tournament passes priced at $25.
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