<p>The Navy soccer team is the only women’s team at the Academy that has earned a Div. I NCAA Tournament bid.</p>
<p>Nov. 8, 2006</p>
<p>Navy Earns Program’s Second NCAA Tournament Appearance Navy is making the program’s second appearance in the NCAA Tournament after earning the automatic bid by way of winning the Patriot League Tournament. The Mids’ two NCAA Tournament appearances have come in the last four years, making Navy’s Class of '07 the first class to play in two NCAA Tournaments. The Navy women’s soccer team is the only women’s team in any sport at the Naval Academy that has earned a Div. I NCAA Tournament bid. </p>
<p>Tournament Facts Navy is one of 30 automatic qualifiers in this year’s NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament … the remaining 34 spots were at-large. The four No. 1 seeds are North Carolina, Notre Dame, Santa Clara and Texas. North Carolina and Connecticut are the only two teams who have been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982. The ACC and Big East are represented by a tournament-best seven teams. NCAA Tournament History Unseeded Navy met fifth-seeded Penn State on Nov. 14, 2003, in the Mids’ first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Nittany Lions defeated the Midshipmen, 5-1, in State College, Pa. PSU scored the opening-three goals of the game, including a strike by All-American Tiffany Weimer just 1:18 into the contest. Navy’s goal (71:53) was scored by 2006 team captain Molly Burd, lobbing a shot over the keeper’s head who was pulled out of the goal. Penn State outshot Navy 21-6 and took a 5-2 advantage in corners … Burd took two of the Mids’ six shots, including two on goal</p>
<p>Representing the Mid-Atlantic Region Eight teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region earned NCAA Tournament bids. Four of the eight teams will face one another with first-round match-ups between West Virginia and Virginia, along with Navy vs. William & Mary. Penn State (vs. Niagara), Rutgers (vs. Hartford), Villanova (vs. Toledo) and Old Dominion (vs. Wake Forest) are the other teams representing the Mid-Atlantic Region. </p>
<p>A Win over William & Mary Would… be the soccer program’s first NCAA Tournament victory be the second time a Patriot League team has earned a victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament give the Mids a program-record 22 wins. </p>
<p>Navy vs. William & Mary - The Series Friday’s Navy-William & Mary match-up will mark the inaugural meeting between the two programs. </p>
<p>Scouting the Tribe William & Mary received one of the 34 at-large bids William & Mary is making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 15 years and has received an invitation to the national tournament 21 times. Three of the last four NCAA Tournament appearances by the Tribe have begun with opening-round matches in Chapel Hill. The Tribe are 16-1-3 recording and produced a 10-0-1 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association. William & Mary was undefeated in conference action, winning the regular-season crown. The Tribe are unbeaten in their last 16 matches, a program record. Their only loss of the season was a 2-1 decision at Auburn on Sept. 3. William & Mary is coming off a 1-1 tied against Old Dominion in the CAA Tournament semifinals … ODU advanced to the CAA Championship Game and eventually won the conference title by edging William & Mary in penalty kicks, 6-5. Sophomore forward Claire Zimmeck, the 2006 CAA Player of the Year, is pacing the Tribe with 32 points on 14 goals and four assists … she has driven in six of the team’s 16 game-winners. Junior Donna Mataya is the team’s second-leading scorer with 24 points on 11 goals and a pair of assists … she has booted in four game-winners. Second-Team All-CAA keeper Meghan Walker has given up 15 goals and owns a 0.72 goals-against average … she has produced an 83.7 save percentage (77 saves) and has led the Tribe to 10 shutouts. </p>
<p>Common Opponents Navy and William & Mary share just two common foes from the 2006 campaign - Colgate and George Mason. Navy produced a 2-0 record against Colgate, including a 1-0 win over the Raiders in the Patriot League Tournament Championship Game … additionally, the Mids defeated George Mason, 1-0, on Sept. 15. William & Mary dispatched Colgate, 2-0, on Sept. 10, and edged the Patriots, 3-2, in Fairfax on Oct. 15. </p>
<p>Navy in the National Polls The Mids have appeared in the Soccer America poll in each of the last seven weeks Navy earned the program’s highest ranking on Monday as the No. 11 team in the Soccer America poll. On Oct. 23, Navy cracked the top 20 in the Soccer Buzz poll (No. 19). The Mids have been ranked 16th by Soccer Buzz in each of the last two weeks. Navy is ranked No. 21 in the Soccer Times poll after making its first appearance in program history on Oct. 23 (No. 25). Navy’s seven-week stay in the rankings is the longest a Patriot League team has been ranked The Mids’ No. 11 this week is the highest ranking a league team has achieved. Last week, Navy received votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll for the first time since 1998 when the Mids were ranked 26th in the Nov. 2 rankings … the Mids again received votes this week. Navy is ranked No. 21 in the Oct. 31 edition of the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). </p>
<p>Read it in the NCAA Record Book Navy’s 0.227 goals-against average is the fourth-lowest in NCAA history … the 1987 North Carolina team owns the record having given up just two goals for a 0.082 GAA. Navy’s .818 shutout percentage is the fourth-best in NCAA history … the 1987 North Carolina squad shut out 22 of its 24 opponents (.917) to set the record. Navy’s 18 shutouts are the 11th most (tied) in NCAA history … the 1987 and ‘97 North Carolina teams turned in 22 shutouts. The Mids’ 10-consecutive shutouts between Oct. 24-26 are the fifth most in NCAA history … Santa Clara blanked 16 straight in 1998. Lizzie Barnes’ 859:23 consecutive shutout minutes (Sept. 17-Oct. 29) is the seventh-longest mark in the NCAA record book. Navy’s .944 save percentage is the second best in the NCAA record book … the Patriot League’s Lehigh set the record last fall (.946). Navy is one of the most improved teams in the country … they have a nine-game improvement over last year’s 10-8-2 record. </p>
<p>High-Powered Offense / Stifling defense The Mids are ranked sixth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 3.18 goals per game. Navy’s defense is ranked No. 1, giving up 0.23 goals per game. Navy has outscored its opponents 70-5 this fall with 17 of its 20 field players scoring at least one goal. All 20 players, as well as starting keeper Lizzie Barnes, have turned in a goal or an assists this season. Navy has set school records for goals (70), assists (79) and points (219). The Mids have shut out 18 of their 22 foes this fall, also a program record. Navy’s 0.810 shutouts per game average is No. 1 in the nation and the fourth-best shutout percentage in NCAA history. Navy is also pacing the country in save percentage, stopping 94.3 percent of the shots it has faced. </p>
<p>Receiving National Recognition ESPN.com has twice written pieces on the Navy women’s soccer program this season. Its initial story focused on senior Meggie Curran and appeared on the internet on Sept. 13. On Nov. 1 , Graham Hays wrote a riveting piece on the the rise of the Mids’ soccer program. Sophomore keeper Lizzie Barnes appears in the Nov. 6 issue of Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd, available on newsstands now. Freshman Lauren Bresnahan’s appearance on the Soccer America National Team of the Week on Sept. 4, marked the first time a Mids has received national recognition since 2000 when Rebecca Gould was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week. Junior Brigitte Fox garnered Soccer America, Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times recognition on Oct. 16 … it’s the first time in program history that a player has been named to all three teams in the same week. Newcomer Shelly Moeller earned a place on this week’s Soccer America and Soccer Buzz Teams of the Week after scoring both game-winners for the Mids in the Patriot League Tournament … Moeller and Bresnahan are the first Navy freshmen to earn national recognition.</p>