BUFFALO, N.Y. — Call it bad luck, miscommunication, or a perfect storm of worst-case scenarios. However you slice it, the UB Women's Soccer team will likely miss out on the NCAA Tournament because of COVID-inspired rule changes and a clerical error.

What You Need To Know

  • UB Women's Soccer, despite a MAC-leading six wins, can't play for the MAC title because of several COVID-inspired rule changes and what they deem a clerical error
  • As a cost-cutting measure, this year's MAC championship only includes its two division winners. UB (6-1-1) trails Bowling Green (5-1-0) in win percentage, so the Bulls are on the outside looking in
  • COVID protocols forced Bowling Green to postpone four of their games (including one against UB), and the Bulls say a typo prevented the schools from rescheduling a division-deciding game this week. UB defeated BGSU 2-1 earlier this year, and a win against them this week would've sent the Bulls to the MAC title game
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The Bulls finished the regular season with a 6-1-1 record, putting them at second-place in their division behind Bowling Green (5-1-0). As a cost-cutting measure, the MAC decided that there would be no postseason tournament this year, and that the two division winners would play to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. While UB has more wins than Bowling Green, the Falcons have a superior win percentage, so they get the nod over the Bulls.

There's a sticking point to Bowling Green's record: COVID protocols have kept them off the field since the end of March, and four of their games were postponed (including a game against UB). If these teams were to make up that game, and the Bulls won, they would claim a superior winning percentage and would find themselves one win away from reaching the NCAA Tournament. So why wasn't that game re-scheduled?

Shawn Burke, UB's head coach, says there's a typo in the MAC's temporary bylaws for this season which prevented the Bulls and Falcons from making up their crucial game. Last Thursday, he heard from the MAC that UB and Bowling Green missed their deadline to play again, which, according to the MAC, was the week of April 7.

"That was never a week we agreed upon as coaches," he says. "Everybody had a game scheduled April 8."

Burke was part of a panel that wrote the bylaws for this season, and he claims that the coaches agreed this week, April 12, would be when games should be made up. Spectrum News made calls to the MAC and did not immediately receive a response.

"Men’s and women’s soccer were written together. I don’t know if that was a date that was intended for men’s soccer, and we were just overlooked, or it was just a typo," he says.

Last Thursday, UB's players learned that their game against Bowling Green would not be made up, and they would be resigned to hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. A MAC team has not earned an at-large bid since 2012.

"When we first heard the news, it was really upsetting," says junior Hannah Callaghan. "It felt like everything we did was for nothing, and all of our hard work was for nothing. Not going home to see our families on Easter, and taking all the precautions that we possibly could have.

"We don’t know what’s going to happen this weekend," says senior Marcy Barberic. "Where we’re going to be next week. We’re still training, and we’re still showing up every day, and we’re still getting better every day."

The NCAA's selection show is scheduled for Monday.