Women's Soccer Selected to the NCAA Tournament for 6th Straight Year :: Argonauts have 14 shutouts in their 15 wins, and hope to ride the defense deep into the post-season.

Argonauts have 14 shutouts in their 15 wins, and hope to ride the defense deep into the post-season.

Nov. 6, 2007

PENSACOLA, Fla. - When the selection committee announced the pairings on Monday, the University of West Florida women's Soccer team was selected as one of 48 teams that will compete in the NCAA Division II national tournament. The Argonauts will travel south to play on the campus of Saint Leo University. West Florida will face a familiar foe in the form of Gulf South Conference rival Montevallo, on Friday at 7:00 pm, for the third time in fifteen days. The Winner will take on the top seeded Saint Leo Lions on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Saint Leo receives a bye as the top seed, and plays the winner of the 4th seeded Argonauts, and the 6th seeded Falcons.

West Florida and the University of Montevallo split their season series thus far with the Argonauts winning the regular season match 3-0 at the UWF Sports Complex. However, it was the Falcons that won the GSC Championship over the West Florida, with a 2-1 victory last Sunday. The Argos had their 12 match win streak snapped in the conference final. Montevallo is 13-7 on the season, while the Argos are 15-3.

"It's exciting," claimed West Florida Head Coach Joe Bartlinski, "not many teams have had the success that we have had over the past few years, and this opportunity gets the youngsters real excited. They feel like they didn't play as well in the final (GSC Championship loss to Montevallo), and it gives them the opportunity to make amends."

This is the sixth straight appearance for the UWF women, which is matched by only one other school in the nation. The bracket this year has two host teams in a six team regional, with the top two seeds receiving a bye as well as hosting the first two rounds.

The Argonauts have also played against St. Leo this season, and defeated them last year in the second round of the NCAA tournament. West Florida is 7-1 all time against St. Leo, with that loss coming earlier this year by a 2-1 score. Thus the Argos have a chance to avenge two of this season's losses in a period of 48 hours. "They know what they are up against," Bartlinski said, "and there are no secrets with these teams."

Overall, this season has been a very big success for the West Florida women, who started the season with several newcomers, and lost some of their best players from last year. However, the team came together and put together an impressive run of over 900 minutes of play with allowing a goal. "It's great to see how far we've come along in the season," Bartlinski exclaimed, "and getting to play in the national tournament can turn your spirits quickly and it's a great opportunity for our young kids."

The Gulf South Conference's leading goal scorer, Dernelle Mascall (So. / Trinidad), has 23 goals on the season and recently earned First Team All-Conference. Courtney Jones, Anastasia Prescott and Brandi Adams were also selected to first team All-Conference. Freshman defender Linda Ganehed was named to the second team. In addition to being the leading the GSC goals, Mascall has also broken West Florida single season record with 23 now on the season. She has also accumulated 10 assists and 54 points.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jones, was a Second Team selection in 2006, earned the first team honors this year after recording 14 shutouts this season. She has record a school record 0.35 goals-against-average this season. Senior midfielder Adams leads the team with 14 assists and is tied for fourth in school history with 25 career assists.

Seven different Argos have been named the GSC Offensive and Defensive players of the week this season. Forward Dernelle Mascall earned her first career GSC Player of the Week award after recording her third hat-trick of the season just two weeks ago. Previously, Brandi Adams (Sr. / Gulf Breeze, Fla.) and Jodi Galucci (So. / Stuart, Fla.) were honored as offensive players of the week, while Marie Hastings (Sr. / Gainesville, Fla.) and Linda Ganehed (Fr. / Sweden), and Sheka Codner (Jr. / Dover, Del.) each won a defensive player of the week honor. In addition, goalkeeper Courtney Jones (So. / Panama City, Fla.) has won defender of the week two separate times this season.