Nov. 5, 2007

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst College women's soccer team was one of 48 teams selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Monday. The Lakers will return to the NCAA playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Six teams in each of the eight regions were selected to participate in the playoffs. Mercyhurst is the No. 5 seed in the Great Lakes Region. The Lakers will take on No. 4 seed Quincy Friday in Allendale, Mich. The winner will play No. 1 seed Grand Valley State Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Grand Valley State is 19-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 poll.

Mercyhurst is no stranger to either of the two teams it would face in the opening rounds. The Lakers lost a 3-2 overtime decision to Quincy earlier this year in a neutral site game played in Indianapolis. Quincy jumped on top early, but Jacque Sluga and Sarah Powell each scored to put the Lakers ahead 2-1. Quincy tied the game with less than 17 minutes remaining in regulation and then won the contest in overtime. In that contest, Mercyhurst held a 15-13 advantage in shots and each team placed six shots on goal.

The Lakers have also played Grand Valley State twice this year, losing by identical 4-0 scores. Grand Valley has outshot Mercyhurst 34-15 over the course of the two contests. Katy Tafler, the GLIAC Player of the Year, scored all four goals in the first contest but was held without a point in the second game which took place Sunday for the GLIAC Championship.

Mercyhurst advanced to the NCAA Playoffs in 2006 as the No. 2 seed from the Great Lakes Region in a year in which only four teams from each of the eight regions were selected to participate. The Lakers lost to No. 3 seed Indianapolis 2-1 in the opening round. Prior to last year, Mercyhurst had not been to the NCAA Playoffs since 2001. The Lakers are 1-9-1 all-time in the tournament with the lone victory coming in a 1-0 win over Ashland in 1999.