HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history on Friday, facing one of the nation's top seeds Florida State in a 3:30 p.m. first round contest at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

Southeastern (13-4-2) and regional host FSU (16-4-1) will open the day's action with Auburn (10-8-3) and California (10-8-1) following in the 6 p.m. nightcap. Live stats and audio streaming for Friday's match will be available for free at www.seminoles.com. The winners of Friday's first round matches will face off on Sunday in a second round match at noon.

The Lady Lions clinched their first NCAA Championships berth with a 2-0 shutout victory over Texas State in the Southland Conference Tournament final last Sunday in Natchitoches. Senior Natalie Santana set the tone with a tremendous goal in the 11th minute, while freshman Karly Dagys capped the victory with a breakaway goal in the final minute.

Southeastern goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus, who was named the Tournament MVP and one of CollegeSoccer360.com national Primetime Players of the Week, secured her Southland Conference single-season record 12th shutout of the season in the victory and lowered her goals against average to 0.46. All-Tournament Southeastern sophomore defender Kyle MacIntosh, along with junior Brittany Prieto, junior Nicole Brannigan and senior Dana Mayer helped the Lady Lions tie a Southland Conference record with their 13th shutout of the season.

Having outscored their opponents 55-9 this season, Southeastern is one of two teams in the nation – along with Portland – to be ranked in the top five nationally in both scoring offense (fifth) and goals against average (fifth).

Freshman Maiya Cooper leads the team with 13 goals, followed by Santana (nine), Dagys (eight) and senior Candice Wallace (six). In all 14 players have scored a goal this season with senior Gloria Burkhart (three), freshman Lauren Stillians (three), senior Jenna Oney (three), Brannigan (two), freshman Kerry McWhirter (two) and freshman Megan Miller (two) giving the Lady Lions 10 players with multiple scores.

Southeastern has set a single-season Southland Conference record with 57 assists, led by Santana's league-high 10. Wallace (nine), Burkhart (eight) are among the team's top distributors along with a quartet – Cooper, Dagys, Stillians and Oney – with four helpers apiece.

In addition to the team's high standing in the national rankings, several Lady Lion individuals stand among the nation's statistical best. Cooper ranks among the national leaders in goals (21st) and points (16th) per game, while Santana (16th) and Wallace (29th) are among Division I's best in assists per contest. Bockhaus currently ranks eighth nationally in goals against average.

Wallace and Santana have continued to climb up the school's career leader board. Wallace ranks among the program's all-time best in points (63, 5th), goals (20, 6th), assists (23, 2nd) and game-winning goals (6, 5th), as does Santana with 56 points (7th), 18 goals (9th), six game-winning goals (6th) and 20 assists (3rd).

Several Lady Lions have also moved into the single-season school leaders with their 2009 performances. Cooper's 2009 totals in points (30, 6th) and goals (13, 5th) rank among the top season outputs ever by a Lady Lions, as do Santana's tallies in points (28, 8th), goals (10th) and assists (3rd). Wallace (5th) and Burkhart (6th) also rank among the program's single-season assist leaders.

Southeastern will be facing a Florida State team that has not lost a home match in 10 outings this season. The Seminoles were the ACC Tournament runner-ups after dropping the final to North Carolina on Sunday in Cary, N.C.

Tiffany McCarty (16 goals, six assists) and Jessica Price (12 goals, 10 assists) lead a Seminole squad that has scored 58 goals thus far this season. The Seminoles have allowed 18 goals on the year and have nine shutouts to her credit. Erin McNulty has played the majority of the minutes in the goal and has a 0.87 goals against average.

On the other side of the bracket, Auburn takes on California. Rebecca Howell leads the Tigers with eight goals, while Katy Frierson has five goals and a team-high 10 assists. Amy Howard has a 1.16 goals against average for Auburn.

Alex Morgan leads Cal with 13 goals and seven assists. Gina Pellegrini has handled the majority of the goalkeeping duties for the Bears and has a 1.58 goals against average, though Rosie Aguileira (0.84) has seen a significant amount of time in the net for Cal.

2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships
First and Second Round – November 13 and 15, 2009
Tallahassee, Fla. – Seminole Soccer Complex

Friday, November 13 – First Round
Match 1 – Southeastern Louisiana vs. Florida State, 3:30 p.m.
Match 2 – Auburn vs. California, 6 p.m.

Sunday, November 15 – Second Round
Match 3 – Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 12 p.m.