Nov. 9, 2006

NCAA Tournament First Round Game Notes
Tournament Central

VILLANOVA, Pa.-- Twenty games deep and better than three months into its season, the Villanova women's soccer team finds itself on the eve of an NCAA Tournament first round game against Toledo. The Wildcats and Rockets will meet on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in a game played at Jeffrey Field on the campus of Penn State University. The winner will advance to the second round on Sunday and face the winner of Friday's earlier game between host Penn State (#2 seed) and Niagara.

During the team's preseason camp, head coach Ann Clifton stated that reaching the NCAA Tournament should be a regular order of business for the program. After missing the tournament last season, the Wildcats are back where they were in four consecutive seasons from 2001-04. This edition of Villanova soccer is one of the best ever. The Wildcats are 15-3-2 on the season and play in one of the nation's strongest conferences.

The opponent on Friday is an NCAA newcomer, as Toledo won the Mid-American Conference title for the first time ever. The Rockets are currently 9-8-4 on the season and are making their first postseason appearance after defeating the #4, #8 and #7 seeds in their conference tournament. As the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round, Toledo hosted the semifinals and championship game of the MAC Tournament.

During Friday evening's game, fans can follow all of the action live from www.villanova.com. A streaming audio broadcast of the game is part of the Nova Nation All-Access Pass, while Gametracker is a free feature with live updated stats during the game. The PDF link at the top of this release contains complete game notes for Friday night's game.