The fifth-ranked Emory University women's soccer team will open NCAA Championship play on Saturday, hosting Piedmont College at 5:00 PM at the Woodruff Physical Education Center in a first-round meeting. 

The game will be the first of three NCAA Tournament matches at the Woodruff Physical Education Center this weekend.  Also on Saturday, Centre College will face Roanoke College at 7:30 PM.  The winners of the two games will play each other in the second round of the tournament at 5:00 PM on Sunday at the WoodPEC.

Coverage
Fans can follow all of the NCAA Championship action at Emory by going to the draw's official website at http://emoryathletics.com/sports/wsoc/2011-12/NCAA.  All three games this weekend will feature live stats (http://www.go.emory.edu/LiveStats/WSocc/XLIVE.HTM) and a video webcast (http://go.emory.edu/Webcasts/WSoccWebcast.html).  To view the webcast, you will need to have RealPlayer installed on your computer.  RealPlayer can be downloaded for free at real.com.

Tickets
Fans can purchase tickets for this weekend's games at the gate prior to the start of the game. Ticket costs are $6 for general admission, $3 for students (with a valid ID) and senior citizens, and $2 for children ages 3-12.  Children two and under will be admitted for free.

Emory Eagles
The Eagles will look to maintain their momentum from the regular season, during which the squad recorded the first undefeated campaign in the history of the Emory Athletic program, while claiming the team's sixth University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Eagles, ranked fifth in the NSCAA poll and sixth in the D3Soccer.com poll, ended the regular season with an overall record of 15-0-2, including a 7-0-0 mark at home.  Emory also finished the campaign as the top-ranked team in the South Atlantic Region.  The Eagles are led by seventh-year head coach Sue Patberg, who is 93-21-18 with Emory, and 239-109-36 for her 19-year career.

Team Stats (D-III Rankings in Parenthesis – as of 11/06)
Goals Per Game: 2.53 (72^nd)
Goals-Against Average: 0.228 (4^th)
Shutout Percentage: 0.824 (5^th)
Won-Lost-Tied Percentage: 0.941 (7^th)
Save Percentage: 0.913 (4^th)

Piedmont Lions
The Lions are coming off a program-best record of 17-2-1 during the regular season, clinching the program's first berth to the NCAA Championships by virtue of winning the Great South Athletic Conference.  Piedmont has gone 7-0-1 in road games during the campaign.  The Lions are led by junior Dilyn MacLean, who tops her team with 11 goals, eight assists and 30 points, and ranks fourth among all Division III players with seven game-winning goals this season.  In addition, goalkeeper Marjorie Hammond is 48^th in Division III with a 0.641 goals against average and 105^th with a 0.824 save percentage.  Piedmont is coached by Stephen Andrew, the GSAC's coach of the year, who has gone 57-19-1 during his four seasons with the team, and 61-32-2 during his five-year career.

Team Stats (D-III Rankings in Parenthesis – as of 11/6)
Goals Per Game: 3.35 (18^th)
Goals-Against Average: 0.641 (46^th)
Shutout Percentage: 0.55 (51^st)
Won-Lost-Tied Percentage: 0.875 (13^th)
Save Percentage: 0.829 (93^rd)

Saturday will mark the sixth meeting all time between the two teams, and the first since September 21^st, 2004, when Emory defeated Piedmont 6-2 at the WoodPEC.  The Eagles hold a 5-0 advantage all-time against Piedmont.

Emory Notes
The Eagles' undefeated regular season was not only the first by a team in Emory Athletics history, but the first by a University Athletic Association (UAA) team since conference play began in 1987… The Eagles need two wins to match the program record for wins in a season with 17, set during the 2001 campaign… Emory is 8-10-4 all time in NCAA Tournament games, including a 5-4-1 record under Coach Patberg… The Eagles have won at least one game in each of their last seven tournament appearances, four of which have been under Patberg's leadership… Sophomore Kelly Costopoulos is Emory's all-time leader with three NCAA Tournament goals, all of which came during last season's Championships… Senior Lidija Barauskas and sophomore Clare Mullins are tied for the program lead with two career assists apiece in tournament play…  Emory has recorded 14 shutouts this season, matching a program record.