Nebraska and Ohio State claimed unexpected titles and North Carolina made emphatic its hold on the Atlantic Coast Conference championship as 18 schools claimed NCAA Tournament berths in women's soccer Sunday by winning conference tournaments.

Connecticut prevailed in a Big East showdown with West Virginia, and Tennessee captured its first Southeastern title.

The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled Monday at about 4:30 p.m. EDT. It will be announced on the ESPN News cable-television channel.

Nebraska, which went through a difficult stretch this season and twice fell out of Soccer America's Top 25, completed an extraordinary run through the Big 12 tournament with a 1-0 triumph over No. 4 Texas A&M, the top seed, at San Antonio.

Jenna Cooper scored off a rebound from a free kick in the eighth minute, and the Cornhusker defense — led by tournament MVP Christy Harms — held off the Aggies in a contentious game that featured six yellow cards and a red card to Texas A&M coach G. Guerreri.

Nebraska had beaten No. 6 Texas, 2-1 in overtime, in a Big 12 semifinal.

Ohio State, the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Conference, earned its first NCAA trip with a 2-1 win over Wisconsin at Lansing, Mich., behind solid defense led by senior Jen Miller.

Lindsay Eckles and Emily Gilbert scored goals 12 minutes apart early in the second half to carry the Buckeyes, who were ineligible for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament because it has a losing record. The NCAA implemented the ''Duke'' rule after coaches complained last season after Duke, with a losing mark against a harsh schedule, was invited into the field.

No. 3 North Carolina, which has struggled to score at times this fall, hammered No. 12 Clemson, 6-0, in the ACC title game at Tallahassee, Fla.

Defender Cat Reddick, who took an overnight flight from Los Angeles after helping the U.S. women's national team claim the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup title Saturday night, scored twice and assisted on a third goal for the Tar Heels, who won their 14th successive ACC tournament title.

Susan Bush, Kacey White, Leea Murphy and Sophie Gervais also tallied for Carolina, which scored 13 goals in three tournament games and won the final by the biggest margin in conference history. The Tar Heels had been held to one goal or fewer six times in their first 19 games and were shut out twice, in ties with No. 9 Portland and No. 24 Duke.

No. 11 Connecticut edged No. 7 West Virginia, 1-0, at Storrs, Conn., to win its first Big East Conference title. Salla Ranta converted a 68th-minute penalty kick, set up when Brittany Barakat was fouled in the Mountaineer box. Chrissie Abbott had West Virginia's best chance, a free kick late in the first half that crashed against the crossbar.

Keeley Dowling's 109th-minute header from a Sue Flamini cross lifted No. 16 Tennessee past Florida, 2-1, in the Southeastern Conference final at Oxford, Miss. Crystal Frimpong have the Gators, six-time defending tournament champs, a ninth-minute lead, but Jen Laughridge pulled Tennessee even in the 78th. The Lady Vols dominated play, and Flamini and Dowling hit the crossbar in the first half.

Three teams — Central Connecticut State (Northeast), Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley) and Oakland (Mid-Continent) — earned NCAA berths on penalty-kick tiebreakers Sunday. Top seeds Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent), Rhode Island (Atlantic-10) and Southeastern Louisiana (Southland) failed to capture tournament titles.

Others securing NCAA berths Sunday were American (Patriot), Creighton (Missouri Valley), Furman (Southern), Hartford (America East), James Madison (CAA), Loyola, Md. (MAAC), Miami, Ohio (MAC), Richmond (Atlantic-10) and UW Milwaukee (Horizon).

Highlights:

America East: AEC MVP Jeannette Akerlund scored a pair of second-half goals to nail down Hartford's sixth conference tournament title, 4-0, over visiting Stony Brook. Malin Engman and Erin Mucha scored first-half goals for the Hawks.

Atlantic-10: Tournament MVP Meghan Ogilvie scored two goals and assisted another as Richmond topped Rhode Island, 3-1, to win the A-10 tournament crown at Dayton, Ohio. Sarah Johnston pulled URI even in the 85th minute, but Ogilvie netted her second two minutes later and set up Annette Isham two minutes after that.

CAA: Kim Argy and Deanna Saracino scored on headers to lift James Madison past George Mason, 2-0, in the Colonial Athletic Association title game at Virginia Beach, Va. Argy scored on a ninth-minute corner kick and Saracino from a 40th-minute cross, both sent into the box by Beth McNamara. The Dukes will make their first NCAA appearance since 1999.

Horizon: Lisa Bengtsson and Carrie Durand scored goals five minutes apart to turn a one-goal lead into a three-goal halftime advantage, and host UW Milwaukee cruised past Butler, 4-2, in the Horizon final. Bengtsson scored twice and Brenda Andrews also tallied for the Panthers, who claimed the tournament title for the second successive season.

MAAC: Loyola, Md., claimed its second successive Metro Atlantic Athletic Association tournament crown, scoring three times in the first 32 minutes to beat Rider, 3-0, at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Becky Bieneman's penalty kick gave the Greyhounds a seventh-minute lead, and Naomi Daniels set up goals by Jeanetta McGettigan in the 28th minute and Katie Elliott five minutes later.

Mid-American: Miami, Ohio, scored goals in the 16th, 21st and 27th minutes to take charge of the MAC final in Oxford, Ohio, routing Ohio U., 5-1, to claim its third straight conference tournament title. Ashley Swinehart, Danielle Altiero and Danielle Berkemeier scored the early goals for the RedHawks, and Audry Wieman and Andrea Cunningham added second-half goals.

Mid-Continent: Oakland claimed its third-successive Mid-Con tournament title and second straight NCAA berth by upsetting top-seeded Oral Roberts at Tulsa. The Grizzlies advanced with a 4-2 shootout triumph after a 1-1 tie. Ingrid Mortensen gave Oakland a first-half lead, but Jessica Kellog pulled ORU even in the 70th minute.

Missouri Valley: Tournament MVP Kelan Brill chipped Illinois State goalkeeper Allison Farrington with 19 seconds remaining in the first overtime period to give Creighton the MVC conference title with a 1-0 victory at Maryland Heights, Mo.

Northeast: Sophie Hopper assisted on the tying goal and converted the decisive kick in the shootout as Central Connecticut State claimed the NEC tournament title after a 1-1 tie with Monmouth at New Britain, Conn. Christine Breiner fired the visiting Hawks ahead in the 58th minute, but conference MVP Kelly Shimmin scored from Hopper's feed in the 71st for CCSU. The Blue Devils won the penalty-kick shootout, 5-3.

Ohio Valley: Eastern Illinois knocked out regular-season champion Southeast Missouri State in the OVC tournament final for the second successive year, pulling out a 4-3 win on penalty kicks after a dramatic 2-2 tie at Cape Girardeau, Mo. EIU's Cara LeMaster's 86th-minute goal broke a 1-1 deadlock, but Erika Todd forced overtime with a goal 10 seconds later.

Pacific-10: Marcia Wallis and Jennifer Farenbaugh both scored two goals and No. 1 Stanford completed a perfect conference season with a 6-0 rout of visiting Arizona. The Cardinal went 9-0-0 in the Pac-10 and surrendered only one goal. No. 2 UCLA, in contention for a share of the title until Sunday, finished 8-1-0 after edging No. 20 Washington State, 2-1. No. 15 USC was routed for the second time in three days, losing at Washington, 5-0. No. 21 California beat No. 23 Arizona State, 2-1.

Patriot: Anabel Jimenez and Simone Konig combined for a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half as American rallied from an early deficit to beat Colgate, 2-1, in the Patriot League tournament final at West Point, N.Y. Kate Barrett gave Colgate a fifth-minute lead, but Jimenez headed home a Konig corner kick in the 49th minute and Konig scored from a Jimenez cross eight minutes later.

Southern: Emily Turgeon, Stacy Simpson and tournament MVP Andrea Morrison scored goals as Furman buried College of Charleston, 3-0, in the SoCon tournament final at Greensboro, N.C. The Lady Paladins won their second conference title while extending their winning streak to 11 games, tying a school record set by the 1999 SoCon tournament champs.

Southland: Brittany Hung and Stephanie Miller scored goals as Northwestern State held off host Southeastern Louisiana, 2-1, to claim the SLC tournament title. The Demons were outshot, 18-5, but tallied on both their shots on goal to claim their second successive victory over a Southland regular-season co-champion, after beating Southwest Texas in the semifinals. NSU will make its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.