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Nov. 12, 2007

•2007 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket
Navy Stats | West VirginiaStats

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Making the program's second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Navy women's soccer team (14-4-4) will face 12th-ranked West Virginia (15-4-2) in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. The Mids and fourth-seeded Mountaineers will battle one another on Friday at West Virginia's Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va., while James Madison (16-4-1) and Penn (13-3-1) will face-off in the other first-round game hosted by West Virginia. The winners of each contest will square off in the second round on Sunday in Morgantown, W.Va. Game times and ticket details will be released by West Virginia on Tuesday.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament once again," said 15th-year Navy head coach Carin Gabarra, who has led the Midshipmen to three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last five years. "We fought through some early injuries and some tough losses against quality teams and I think we're peaking at the right time. We have the talent and we are healthy heading into the tournament, and our mentality right now is that we can play with anyone.

"West Virginia has put together a fantastic season and it has established itself as one of the premier programs both in the region and on a national level," added Gabarra. "We will have to play an entire 90-minute game to be successful against a quality team like West Virginia."

Navy received an automatic bid to play in the NCAA Tournament after shutting out second-seeded American in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals last Friday, before snapping a three-game losing streak to host and top-seeded Bucknell, 1-0, in Sunday's championship contest. The Mids enter Friday's contest against the Mountaineers riding a 10-game unbeaten streak, including wins in each of their last six games. Navy's last loss was a 1-0 deficit at Bucknell on Oct. 5.

Averaging 1.86 goals per game, Navy is one of the toughest teams to defend thanks to 16 different players scoring a goal this fall. Half of those 16 have scored at least two goals, including two-time First-Team All-Patriot League forward Brigitte Fox (La Mesa, Calif.) who is pacing the Midshipmen with 16 goals. Six of her 16 goals have been game-winners, including her two-goal performance against American in last weekend's league semis. Additionally, Fox has scored nine goals in the last five games and has accounted for nine of the Mids' last 15 goals. She is ranked No. 1 in the Patriot League in points per game (1.59) and goals per game (0.73). On a national level, she is No. 27 in points per contest and 19th in goals per game.

On the defensive side of the field, the Midshipmen have upped their game as of late, holding seven of their last 10 opponents without a goal, including each of their last three. On the year, Navy has produced 11 shutouts and enters the weekend giving up 0.79 goals per game which is ranked 48th in the nation. While center backs Lauren Bresnahan (Weston, Fla.) and Second-Team All-Patriot League Shelly Moeller (Milford, Ohio) have been sensational, the organizer of the Mids' defensive unit is junior keeper Lizzie Barnes (New Orleans, La.), a preseason Hermann Trophy candidate. Barnes owns a 0.86 goals-against average and is ranked 76th in the country. She has given up 17 goals this fall, while making 56 saves for a 76.7 save percentage.

West Virginia earned its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid after claiming the program's first Big East title via penalty kicks (5-3) against 11th-ranked Notre Dame. The Mountaineers will serve as one of 16 host schools for the first and second rounds of the national tournament, the fourth time it has done so, as West Virginia play host in 2001, `02 and `03. Additionally, West Virginia is seeded for the third time in the program's 12-year history, also receiving the nod in 2002 and `03.

Like Navy's Gabarra, 12th-year head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown has built the Mountaineer program from ground level. She has amassed a 162-66-19 record at West Virginia, including a 15-4-2 record this fall that featured an impressive 11-1-1 record on its home field. The Mountaineers turned in a 9-1-1 Big East record, dropping a a 2-0 decision to national power Connecticut, as well as tying unranked Syracuse, 1-1. WVU put together back-to-back shutouts over Villanova (1-0) and Louisville (1-0) to advance to the conference title game against Notre Dame. The two programs battled to a 1-1 tie, before the athletic play of rookie goalkeeper Kerri Butler robbed defending National Player of the Year Kerri Hanks of a goal and gave her teammates the opportunity for the win.

Senior Ashley Banks, the 2007 Big East Co-Offensive Player of the Year, is pacing the Mountaineers with 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists. She has driven in three of West Virginia's 15 game-winners this fall. Banks is 25th in the country in points per game (1.62) and 38th in goals per game (0.619). Third-Team All-Big East forward Deana Everrett is the team's second-leading scorer with 23 points on seven goals and a team-best nine assists and has also produced three game-winners. Meanwhile, honorable mention pick Kim Bonilla owns a team-high four game-winning goals, while turning in 19 points on six goals and seven assists. Butler has taken over the goalkeeping duties as of late, surrendering six goals in her nine appearances while making nine saves. She is allowing 0.74 goals per game and making stops on 72.7 percent of the shots she has face.

The Mountaineers, who have scored one less goal than Navy in one less game, are ranked 42nd in scoring offense, posting 1.95 goals per game. Meanwhile, they stand 57th in goals-against average, giving up 0.832 goals per contest.