Live Stats
Live Twitter Updates
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 22nd-ranked Slippery Rock University women's soccer team will face West Virginia Wesleyan in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Division II National Tournament Friday at 1 p.m. at California University (Pa.).
California earned the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region and with it a first round bye and the right to host the opening two rounds. Slippery Rock earned the No. 3 seed and West Virginia Wesleyan the No. 6 seed. The winner of Friday's SRU-Wesleyan match will face California Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Rock is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA tournament on the strength of a 13-3-4 overall record, including a 9-0-4 mark in the last 13 games.
West Virginia Wesleyan is making its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament after earning the automatic qualifier out the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Bobcats posted a record of 12-3-2 on the season.
Slippery Rock and Wesleyan met in the first game of the season, way back on Sept. 2, in Buckhannon, W. Va. The Rock came away from that meeting with a 2-0 win.
Live statistics for the opening round match will be provided by the California sports information office and can be accessed via the link at the top of this page.
Live Twitter updates will also be provided throughout the game, courtesy of the Slippery Rock sports information office. To follow the Rock Athletics official Twitter account, visit the link at the top of this page.
Ticket prices for the first and second round's of the NCAA Tournament have been mandated by the NCAA and set at $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students from the three participating schools (with valid college ID). Children ages 2-12 will also be admitted for $5.
Game Notes
Back to Nationals: The Rock returns to the national tournament for the fourth time in the last five years after missing a berth in last season's tournament. Slippery Rock owns a 3-5 overall record in the tournament and has reached the regional final twice (2001 and 2008).
In the Rankings: Slippery Rock jumped into the national rankings for the first time this week at No. 22 when the NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com Division II rankings were released. The Rock finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic Region by the NCAA Women's Soccer Committee. West Virginia Wesleyan is not ranked in the nation's top-25 and finished the regular season ranked No. 8 in the Atlantic Region. The Bobcats jumped No. 7 Shippensburg and No. 6 Edinboro to earn a berth by winning the WVIAC tournament title.
Head Coaches: Noreen Herlihy is in her 16th season at the helm of the Slippery Rock program. She has produced 15th consecutive winning seasons, including 13 consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins, and owns a career record of 193-92-22. Herlihy has guided the team to two PSAC championships and six NCAA appearances.
Patrick Holguin is in his first season as the head coach at West Virginia Wesleyan. He owns a 12-3-2 record this season and has a career record of 269-187-40 having spent 12 years as the head men's coach and 10 years as the head women's coach at Marietta College.
Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock enters the first round of the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 13-3-4 and is currently riding a school record unbeaten streak of 13 consecutive games.
The Rock has outshot opponents 316-168 in 20 games this season and has outscored the opposition 35-17.
Shelby Ward and
Ashley Paganie are tied for the team lead in points, with Ward netting a team and career-high nine goals and Paganie adding six goals and six assists. Paganie is tied for the SRU career assist record.
Danielle Turner ranks third in scoring with four goals and five assists, followed by
Kara Mullins with five goals and two assists and
Alison Hindley with three goals and five assists to cap the double-digit scorers.
Dana O'Neill has appeared in 14 games with 13 starts in goal and owns a record of 8-2-2 with eight shutouts. She has allowed just nine goals for a goals against average of 0.66 and has made 39 saves for a save percentage of .812.
Hindley, Turner and
Emer Flatley all earned second team All-PSAC honors when the All-Conference team was announced Wednesday. That trio was joined by
Rachel Knapp and Mullins on the third team.
Scouting the Bobcats: West Virginia Wesleyan enters the tournament with an overall record of 12-3-2 and is coming off a 1-0 win over Alberson-Broaddus in the WVIAC championship game last weekend.
The Bobcats are outshooting opponents 281-149 in 17 games this season and are outscoring the opposition 33-10.
Sarah Snyder leads the team in scoring with eight goals and five assists, followed by Laura Dalton with seven goals and two assists and Meghan Zayas with five goals and four assists to cap the double-digit scorers. Aleisha Rees follows closely with three goals and three assists while Marissa Wright, Zania Thomas and Emma Levin-Nielsen have all scored two goals.
Laren Hessian has appeared in 16 games and made 15 starts in goal for Wesleyan. She owns a record of 7-3-2 with five shutouts and has allowed eight goals for a goals against of 0.60 to go along with 56 saves and a save percentage of .875. Caroline Lalley has appeared in seven games with two starts and owns a 5-0-0 record with one shutout. She has allowed two goals for a goals against of 0.51 and has made nine saves for a save percentage of .818.
The Bobcats have allowed only two goals in the first half all season. Opposing teams have fared much better in the second half, scoring seven goals.
Last Meeting: Slippery Rock opened this season with a 2-0 win on the road at West Virginia Wesleyan. The Rock finished the game with advantages of 13-7 in total shots, 6-4 in shots on goal and 5-4 in corner kicks.
West Virginia Wesleyan scored an own goal in the 65th minute to open the scoring.
Ashley Paganie added an insurance goal in the 78th minute off an assist from
Kara Mullins to seal the 2-0 win.
Dana O'Neill made four saves in the shutout for SRU. Laura Hessian allowed two goals and made four saves in the loss.
Playoff History: This will be the first meeting between the two teams in the national playoffs. The only team Slippery Rock has ever played in the national playoffs that came from outside the PSAC was Adelphi, which SRU defeated 2-0 in 2007.
