INDIANAPOLIS – The announcement was inevitable after Sunday's 3-1 victory over top-seeded North Greenville in the championship match of the Conference Carolinas Tournament, but the NCAA made it official on Monday evening when the UNC Pembroke soccer team was among 56 teams selected to participate in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
 
The sixth-seeded Braves (16-2-2) will battle third-seeded Flagler (13-3-2) on Thursday in the opening round of action at Catawba's E.B. Frock Field in Salisbury. Second-seeded and 20th-ranked Catawba (15-3-2) will go head-to-head with seventh-seeded Wingate (11-4-4) in the other first round match, and the winners will meet on Saturday in the championship bout. UNCP and Flagler are scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m., while the Indians and Bulldogs will tangle in the nightcap.
 
The winner of the 4-team bracket in Salisbury will take on the winner of the Columbus State regional that features the top-seeded and third-ranked Cougars (16-2-1) against eighth-seeded North Georgia (10-4-3), as well as fourth-seeded Limestone (12-3-2) battling fifth-seeded and 16^th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (11-3-3).
 
Friday's first-round matchup will mark UNCP's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and the club will climb on the sport's biggest stage for the third time in the last four seasons. The Braves made previous trips to the NCAA's biggest stage in 2008, 2010, 2017. 2019 and 2021, and will lug a 2-5-0 clip into the matchup in Salisbury.
 
The Black & Gold are appearing in the NCAA postseason for the second-straight year as an automatic bid after capturing the Conference Carolinas Tournament crowns in both 2021 and 2022.
 
Flagler will ride a seven-game series unbeaten streak into the contest with UNCP, and has been victorious in each of the last five matchups with the Braves as well. The Saints posted a 2-1 win over the Black & Gold in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament in the first neutral site matchup between the two sides.