NCAA Championship Bracket
The Emory University women's soccer team, ranked 16th in the nation, will face off against the 19th-ranked Duhawks of Loras College in the round of 16 of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, November 17th at 11:00 AM in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pittsburgh Sectional
Joining Emory and Loras at the Pittsburgh sectional will be 17th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University and 25th-ranked Wheaton College (Mass.), who will face each other a round of 16 contest at 1:30 PM on Saturday. The winners of the two Saturday games will play at 1:30 PM on Sunday, November 18th for the right to advance to the NCAA Semifinals in San Antonio, Texas on November 30th.
Venue Information
All three games this weekend will be played at the Carnegie Mellon Soccer Field in Pittsburgh, PA. Tickets will cost $6 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens, and $2 for children ages 3-12.
Coverage
Fans unable to attend can follow each game with both live stats (http://www.enrollment.cmu.edu/athletics/wsoccer/xlive.htm) and a live video webcast (http://athletics.cmu.edu/live).
Emory Eagles
Emory is ranked 16th in the NSCAA Division III Women's Soccer Poll, and seventh in the D3Soccer.com poll, both of which were last released at the end of the regular season. The Eagles currently stand at 13-1-6 in 2012, including a 1-0-1 record in neutral games, and a 5-1-3 mark in road contests.
Reaching the tournament by virtue of an at-large bid, the Eagles advanced to the round of 16 with a pair of 2-0 wins, defeating DePauw University in the first round, and seventh-ranked Centre College in the second round, with both games in Danville, KY. This is Emory's 14th NCAA appearance overall, and the ninth time the team has reached the round of 16. The Eagles are 12-11-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
The Eagles' offense has scored 50 goals this season, tied for the sixth-most in a single season in school history, and the most by an Emory squad since the 2001 team registered 55 goals. Emory's 2.5 goals per game rank as the 74th-best mark in Division III this season. Leading the way for the Eagles have been junior Veronica Romero (eight goals and four assists), sophomore Charlotte Butker (five goals and 10 assists) and junior Kelly Costopoulos (eight goals and three assists), while sophomore Emily Feldman, senior Katy Kruse, sophomore Karina Rodriguez and senior Lee Bachouros all have double-digit points totals during the year as well. Emory averages 24.45 shots and 11 shots on goal per game this season.
Emory's defense has played some of its best soccer of the year as of late, recording five of their 13 shutouts this season over their last six games. Senior goalkeeper Erica Stein has allowed just one goal in her last 535 minutes played (spanning the last 12 Emory games), teaming with fellow senior keeper Kaele Leonard (0.37 GAA, .867 save percentage) to combine for a 0.413 goals-against average, the ninth-best mark among Division III squads. Emory also ranks 31st as a team with a 0.65 shutout percentage, and 38th with a 0.859 save percentage. Emory's defense, led by senior Ashley Kaiser, junior Lauren Gorodetsky, junior Lauren Drosick and sophomore Kaelyn Lucas, has limited opponents to just 6.3 shots and 3.2 shots on goal per game this year.
Emory is led by head coach Sue Patberg, who has now reached the NCAA Tournament in six of her eight seasons at Emory, and 14 times during her 19-year career, which includes stays at the Division I University of Minnesota and the University of Georgia. She holds a 109-23-23 during her time with the Eagles, good for a .775 winning percentage, and a career ledger of 255-111-41. Patberg is assisted by Rachel Moreland and Mike Wentzler.
Loras Duhawks
The Duhawks ended the 2012 regular season ranked 19th in the NSCAA poll and 20th in the D3Soccer.com poll. With a pair of tournament victories, Loras raised its record to 19-4-0 for the campaign. The team is 1-0-0 in neutral games this season, and 6-3-0 in road contests. The Duhawks have won 12-straight games and 17 of their last 18 contests.
Loras won the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Hosting the first two rounds in Dubuque, IA, the Duhawks defeated St. Scholastica 2-0, and Calvin 4-2 to advance to the round of 16. This is Loras' 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, and the third time that it has reached the round of 16. The Duhawks are 9-8-2 all-time in NCAA play.
Loras' strength this season has been its offense, which ranks 49th in Division III with 2.74 goals per game and is the highest mark among the four teams competing in Pittsburgh this weekend. The squad has scored 63 goals this season, led by the pair of junior Lynn DeVriese (13 goals and three assists) and freshman Katie Truesdale (12 goals and five assists). Truesdale also ranked eighth among all Division III players with seven game-winning goals this season. Loras averages 17 shots and 10 shots on goal per game.
Defensively, the Duhawks have allowed 26 goals for a 1.101 goals against average this season, ranked 141st in Division III. The squad has also recorded six shutouts during the campaign for a 0.348 shutout percentage, the 189th-best mark among D-III squads. Sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Wilson has seen the majority of the playing time this season, going 15-3-0 with a 0.94 GAA and a .779 save percentage. Loras' defense has allowed an average of 8.9 shots and 4.7 shots on goal per game in 2012.
The Duhawks are led by head coach Dan Rothert, who also serves as the head coach of their Loras men's soccer program (which will also be hosting NCAA Tournament games on Friday and Saturday). He has a career record of 230-78-19 during his 15 years with the women's program, qualifying for the NCAA Championships on nine occasions. Rothert is assisted by Danielle Dodds and student assistants Ali Schmitt and Jessica Kern.
Matchup History
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Duhawks.
Emory Notes
Emory has had four different players (Veronica Romero, Emily Feldman, Charlotte Butker and Kelly Costopoulos) score a goal so far in the tournament, the first time that the Eagles have had more than three goal scorers in a single tournament… With her second-half goal against Centre on Sunday, Kelly Costopoulos now has four career NCAA Tournament goals, more than any other player in the program's history… It was her 20th career goal overall, tying her for 11th in school history… Should Costopoulos get a goal or an assist, she would be the third Eagle to break the 20-point plateau this season, joining Romero and Butker… It would be the first time the Eagles have had three 20-point scorers since 2003… Emory's seven 10-point scorers this season are the second-most in school history, and one shy of the school record of eight, set in 1995… Lee Bachouros picked up an assist on Saturday against DePauw, and is now tied for 14th in school history with 19 career assists… All four University Athletic Association (UAA) team that were selected to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships are still alive in the round of 16… In addition to Emory and Carnegie Mellon, Brandeis and Washington (Mo.) will both be playing NCAA Tournament games this weekend… No other conference has more than two teams remaining in the field.