As his Utah women’s soccer players gathered for the NCAA Tournament announcement, coach Rich Manning told them they had a 50-50 chance of being selected.
In his mind, though, he figured Utah’s hopes were more like 30%, with the Utes among five teams competing for one or two spots. So when the news came that Utah was in the field, Manning said, “It was raw emotion, for sure.”
The Utes were rewarded for overcoming a tough nonconference schedule and persevering through the demanding Pac-12 season, a league that produced nine NCAA tourney teams. Utah will play a first-round match Friday (4 p.