NAIA National Tournament Bracket

Lamoni, IA-After falling in the HAAC tournament semi-finals for the second time in three years last Wednesday,

the Graceland women's soccer team approached Sunday's announcement of the 2010 NAIA National Soccer tournament field with cautious optimism. The body of work the #7 Jackets put together during the fall season was undeniable however and their wait to see whether or not they would receive one of the seven at-large berth's handed out ended late Sunday afternoon. Dropping only one spot in the national rankings to #7 and holding strong at #4 in the RPI (rating percentage index) after Wednesday's match, (which was officially a tie) the Jackets received the #4 overall seed in the tournament and will host Kansas Wesleyan University (10-6-2) Saturday (Nov 20).

Kansas Wesleyan (Salina, KS) will make the trip to Lamoni Saturday with a record of 10-6-2 overall. The Coyotes won the KCAC conference tournament 3-2 in overtime over Ottawa to grab the KCAC's automatic bid into the field of 32.

The Coyotes are paced by senior forward Corina Villegas (Perris, CA). Villegas leads Kansas Wesleyan in scoring with 10 goals on the season and 1 assist. Supporting Villegas in the offensive attack are junior midfielder Hannah Kern (Rapid City, SD) with 6 goals and 7 assists and junior midfielder Imman Issa (Arcadia, CA) with 4 goals and 5 assists. The Coyotes did give up 18 goals on the season but countered that by scoring 51 of their own.

The Jackets will come into the match with an overall record of 15-1-2 overall with their only loss coming at the hands of fellow national tournament qualifier, Olivet Nazarene. Graceland is led offensively by senior sensation and HAAC player of the year Chelsea Phillips (Granada Hills, CA), sophomore forward Gisela Arrieta (Valledupar, Colombia), senior midfielder Shay Eskridge (Rowlett, TX), senior defender Ryanne Miller (Blue Springs, MO) and freshman goalie Stefany Castano (Bogota, Colombia). Along with Graceland's stingy defense which only allowed 9 goals on the season, the offense scored 46 including 19 from Phillips and 15 from Arrieta.

"I am extremely pleased and excited that we have received an at large bid to go to the National Tournament," said Coach Wagenaar after the announcement. "They have had a great season, and it would have been a shame to have ended it prematurely. I feel it is a real blessing for the team, and we intend to use this second chance to work as hard as we can, to advance as far as we can," continued Wagenaar. "I am sure this can be said of many teams in the NAIA, but these ladies have had to overcome their fair share of problems, and more, to get to this point. I am pleased that they have gotten their reward, and I hope we come together as a team and move to an even higher standard. It's an exciting time of the year, and we are grateful to be able to participate," finished an elated Wagenaar.

As previously stated, the #7 Jackets will host Kansas Wesleyan University (Salina, KA) in Lamoni next Saturday, the 20th of November, at a time still to be determined. Click the above link to view the entire 2010 NAIA National Tournament Field and as always, stay tuned to the Jacket athletics website for continuing coverage of the women's soccer team as they push for a National Championship in 2010!