Illinois Wesleyan NCAA Division III First, Second Round Web Site

NCAA National Tournament Bracket

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan squares off against Transylvania at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, at IWU's Neis Field in the first round of the NCAA Division III national championship tournament, the first-ever home NCAA tournament match for the Titans.

The first game Saturday will be at 5 p.m. and will pit No. 2-nationally ranked Trinity [Texas] with a 21-0-1 record against College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin member Augustana (12-4-4).

The winning teams will meet at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17.

ABOUT ILLINOIS WESLEYAN: The Titans (12-2-5) have suffered their two losses on the road to nationally-ranked teams - 5-0 at Washington U. on Sept. 12 and 2-0 at Wheaton on Oct. 19. IWU tied Carthage in the first round of the CCIW tournament but the Lady Reds claimed the shootout, 4-2, to advance.
IWU is led offensively by freshman Alison Seger with 12 goals and three assists, senior Tillie Bill with eight goals and six assists, and freshman Skyler Tomko with seven goals and three assists. Senior Zoie Samaan has a 0.94 goals-against average with 58 saves and five shutouts.
In his 13th season as IWU head coach, David Barrett has an overall record of 166-64-30 (.697 winning percentage) with a conference record of 62-21-8 (.725 percent). His teams have made the NCAA Division III tournament six times – 2005, 2008 through 2011 and 2013.
The Titans have an overall record of 2-4-2 in five previous NCAA Division III tournaments.
• In 2011 in Ada, Ohio, the Titans lost a 2-1 overtime match to Ithaca College.
• In 2010 in Granville, Ohio, Illinois Wesleyan defeated Washington & Jefferson, 3-0, before losing to the host school Denison by a 2-0 score.
• In the 2009 NCAA tournament the Titans earned their first-ever playoff win with a 1-0 overtime decision over Carroll before losing in overtime, 1-0 to Washington U.
• In 2008, Illinois Wesleyan tied Rhodes, 0-0, but advanced in a 4-3 shootout advantage. In the second round IWU tied Washington U., 0-0, and were outscored, 3-1, in penalty kicks.
• In the 2005 NCAA tournament, the Titans lost a 1-0 first round decision at Loras.

ABOUT TRANSYLVANIA: Transylvania (14-4-2) has a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games with the only loss being a 2-1 setback to Hanover. Michael Fulton is in his 10th year as Pioneers' coach.
The Pioneers are led by Alyssa Kruse, who has seven goals and three assists, while senior Amy Ghibaudy (six goals, one assist) and Abby Felthaus (three goals, seven assists) have provided 13 points.
Ghibaudy was selected as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference co-offensive most valuable player. Jerrica Scovel has a 7-1-0 record as a keeper with a 0.61 goals against average.

ABOUT TRINITY: The No. 2 ranked Trinity Tigers have outscored opponents 114-6 this year and will be making their ninth postseason appearance under head coach Lance Key.
Trinity swept the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason honors. Emily Jorgens was named the SCAC Offensive Player of the Year, Jennifer White garnered Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Endaisia Love was the Co-Newcomer of the Year. Jorgens has 17 goals and 28 assists while Kelsey Falcone has 19 goals and 11 assists and Shelby Guenthardt has 15 goals.
Devan Osegueda has a 0.31 goals-against average with 25 saves in 17 games in goal.
Key was the SCAC coach of the year as Trinity went 12-0-0 and won its eighth SCAC Championship in his 10 seasons with the Tigers. He has a 164-17-14 record  and the .877 winning percentage is the highest of anyone who has ever coached in the SCAC, in any team sport.

ABOUT AUGUSTANA: With an at-large bid into the tournament, Augustana is making its sixth NCAA postseason appearance under Scott Mejia, who is in his 13th season as Vikings' head coach. Two of those losses in 2013 came by scores of 1-0 at the hands of Wheaton (at the time ranked No. 1 in the nation).
Augustana is led in scoring by sophomore Kelly Farell with nine goals and five assists for 23 points. Freshman Jessa Rizzo is next with eight goals and two assists for 18 points and junior Taylor Navarro checks in with seven goals and four assists for 18 points.
Sophomore goalkeeper Meredith Chew has played in all 20 games and has a 0.51 goals-against-average with 10 goals allowed in 1,760 minutes.