WILKES-BARRE – For the first time in 12 years, the Wilkes University women's soccer team will head to the NCAA  Division III tournament, where it will matchup with Connecticut College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game will take place at Homewood Field, the home of the host Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays in Baltimore, Maryland.

For the tournament central page, click here.

For the interactive NCAA bracket, click here.

Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $3 for senior citizens, children ages 3-12, and students from participating schools with a valid University ID, and free for children two years of age and younger. For directions to Homewood Field, click here.

The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications department will provide live stats and video for fans that cannot attend, which are provided below:

Live Stats and Video

The Lady Colonels last appeared in an NCAA Tournament game after winning the then-Freedom Conference Championship in 2005, facing Stevens Tech, where they were defeated 5-0. This time around, Wilkes will face the Camels, who finished the season 12-3-1 after falling to Amherst in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) quarterfinals.

The Lady Colonels advanced to this point after finishing the regular season 12-2-3 overall and 5-1-1 in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play, securing the programs first No. 1 seed in the process. Wilkes then defeated Eastern University in the semifinals after a back-and-forth game that was decided when Nicolette Towlen (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) scored in the 103^rd minute. The Lady Colonels then squared off with Misericordia in the Championship game, which was was again decided in the 103^rd minute, unfortunately in favor of the Cougars when Alex Gallagher lined a free-ball shot off the crossbar and past Courtney Stanley (Yardville, NJ/Steinert) and the Wilkes defense. The Lady Colonels, who finished the season ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Region by the United Soccer Coaches, faced eight teams that were either nationally or regionally ranked, coming away with a 4-2-2 record in those games, highlighted by a 0-0 double-overtime tie to open the season against then-19^th ranked Penn State-Berks, a 1-0 win over Arcadia University, the champions of the MAC Commonwealth after their double-overtime victory against 10^th-ranked Messiah College, and a 1-0 win over Misericordia, who was ranked 18^th in the nation at the time.

Wilkes had six players named to the All-MAC Freedom teams, with three on the First Team and three on the Second Team. That included First Teamer Towlen, who registered four game-winning goals, Elena Denger (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth), and Niamh Harkins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley), who combined for a stifling back line. On the Second Team, goalkeeper Stanley was highlighted after setting a new program-record with 10 shutouts in a single season, which could not have been accomplished without fellow players Catherine Gregoire (New Cumberland, PA/Trinity) and Elise Brubaker (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy), who played big roles defensively for the Lady Colonels. Head coach John Sumoski, who is in his 16^th season with a 157-127-32 record, earned his fourth MAC Freedom Coach of the Year honor for his efforts in leading the team to new heights.

As mentioned above, the Camels advanced to the NESCAC tournament as the conference's No. 2 seed after finishing conference play 7-2-1. Connecticut College was paced this season by freshman Kat Norton, who led the team in points with 14 and goals with seven. Other players to finish in double figures for points include senior Michelle Medina (four goals, three assists, 11 points) and junior Alex Baltazar (four goals, two assists, 10 points). Protecting the net for the Camels is senior Bryanna Montalvo, who finished the campaign with an 11-3-1 record and five shutouts with a 0.63 goals against average and a 0.786 save percentage. The Head Coach of Connecticut College is Norm Riker, who is in his seventh season and sports a 172-102-59 record as a head coach and will lead the Camels into their third tournament appearance in the last four years.

This will be the first meeting between the two programs, who both came into existence in the 1980's. The winner of Saturday's contest will go on to face the winner of the host Blue Jays and College of Staten Island on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.