Women's Soccer To Play Nazareth In Opening Round Of NCAA Division III Tournament

Indianapolis, IN --- Worcester State will travel to Rochester, NY and play Nazareth in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament at 11 AM on Saturday, November 15.

The other contest in Rochester features Amherst (11-5) squaring off at 1:30 on Saturday with the two winners facing each other on Sunday at 1 PM in the second round.  

Worcester State checks into the tournament with an overall record of 14-3-1 as they make their first NCAA appearance since 2010. This past Sunday, the Lancers captured their sixth MASCAC Tournament Championship and the conference automatic bid to the NCAAs.

Junior Alicia Macomber (Stoughton, MA) leads the charge for the Blue and Gold as she has set new program standards with 18 goals and 42 points to go with six helpers and seven match-clinching tallies.

The Lancers have permitted the fewest in the conference (16) as junior net minder Jillian Witkowski (Leicester, MA) is second in the MASCAC with a 0.94 goals against average and a .837 save percentage.

WSU has an all-time record of 3-4-1 in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the "Sweet 16" round during the 2007 campaign.

Nazereth (14-3-3) shared the Empire 8 regular season title and tournament crown with Ithaca. This past weekend, the Golden Flyers and the Bombers tied in a scoreless draw in the Empire 8 championship game, but Nazereth earned the conference automatic bid with a 4-3 win in penalty kicks.

Graduate student Christine Belding (Rochester, NY) and sophomore Michaela Soules (Camden, NY) tie for the lead in points with 21 points as Belding has nine goals and three helpers to her credit. Soules also has five markers on the campaign and she tops the conference with 11 assists.

Backstopping the Golden Flyers is sophomore Allison Dobles (Spencerport, NY) who has a sparkling 0.50 goals against average with 69 saves, seven shutouts and a .896 save percentage while allowing just eight goals to cross between the pipes this season.

Nazereth earned their eighth NCAA Tournament berth as they carry an all-time mark of 6-8 into the national playoffs with their last appearance in 2008.

2014 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket