WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's soccer team is set to face William Paterson University in the opening round of the 2019 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday, November 16 at Albright College in Reading Pa. at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices are set by the ECAC and are as follows:
Adults: $5
Seniors: $3
Students: $2
Children Under Six: Free

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Wilkes enters with an 8-8-1 overall record and are the No. 2 seed in Pod 4. William Paterson is 8-8-2 overall and the No. 2 seed in Pod 4.

The Colonels are playing in the ECAC Tournament for the fifth time in program history and for the second consecutive season. Last year head coach John McNichol and the Colonels beat Mount Saint Mary College (NY) 2-0 in the opening round and Springfield College 1-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinal round. There, Wilkes fell 2-1 to Albright College.

Wilkes is led offensively by sophomore Emily Bidelspach (Myerstown, PA/ELCO) who has accumulated 14 points on six goals and two assists. She was selected as a Second Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom member. Senior Jessica Egan (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional) is second on the team with 13 points on five goals and three assists. Egan was selected to the All-MAC Freedom First Team for the second straight year and was named the ECAC Division III – North Offensive Player of the Month for October.

Sophomore Karyna Vargas (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) was named Second Team All-MAC Freedom after scoring two goals and assisting three times for seven points. Junior defender Niamh Harkins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) was selected First Team all-conference for the third time. Senior Haley Evans (Deptford, NJ/GCIT) leads the Colonels with four assists this year. Senior goalkeeper Samantha Cecere (Batavia, NY/Batavia) recorded a 6-8-1 record with 58 saves this season. She has a 1.57 goals-against-average and a .707 save percentage.

Wilkes averages 1.47 goals-per-game and also allows 1.47 goals-per-game through its 17 games. The Colonels were the No. 4 seed in the MAC Freedom Championship tournament and lost in the semifinals to No. 1 seed Stevens Institute of Technology, who was ranked No. 18 nationally at the time.

William Paterson was the No. 5 seed in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament and lost in the first round to No. 4 seed Rowan University.

Senior forward Marisa Adelman was named the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and was a First Team All-NJAC selection for the fourth time. She has 28 points on 12 goals and four assists this season. Ashley Cozzi was selected to the Second Team while Corrine Bowe, Kristen Bowe, Danielle Dachowski, and Lorraine Moffitt all earned All-NJAC Honorable Mention. Moffitt led the Pioneers with six assists this season. Goalkeeper Erica Hickey has a 6-7-2 record with 74 saves this season. She has a 1.51 goals-against-average and a .763 save percentage.

William Paterson is averaging 2.06 goals-per-game while allowing 1.39 this season.

The two teams were supposed to play at Schmidt Stadium on September 11th but the game was postponed due to lightning. Wilkes holds a 4-1 series advantage against William Paterson as the two sides have met every season since 2014.

No. 1 seed in Pod 4 Albright (12-8-0) will host No. 4 seed Penn State Harrisburg (11-10-1) at 5:00 p.m. Saturday at Gene L. Shirk Stadium. Albright was the No. 4 seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament and won its first round game against fifth-seeded Hood College before losing to the No. 1 team in the nation Messiah College in the semifinals. Penn State Harrisburg was the No. 3 seed in the North Eastern Athletic Conference and defeated sixth-seeded Lancaster Bible College in the first round and second-seeded Keuka College in the semifinals before losing to No. 1 seed Penn State Berks in the title game.

The winner of the Wilkes and William Paterson matchup with face the winner of Albright and Penn State Harrisburg in the ECAC Quarterfinals on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. in Reading, Pa. The winner of the Pod will advance to the ECAC Semifinals on Saturday, November 23 at a site to be determined.