SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Rock players, coaches, alumni, family members and fans can now take a collective breath and start breathing normally again, if only for a few days.

Six days after it lost a 5-2 decision to Mercyhurst in quarterfinal action of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs, The Rock learned late Monday afternoon that loss did not ring down the curtain on the 2008 season.

SRU student-athletes and campus officials were informed via a national conference call they will be making a third straight trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships.

The Green and White, proud owners of a 13-6-1 overall record this fall, are the No. 6  seed in the Atlantic Regional tournament and will meet third-seeded Bloomsburg (13-5-1) in a 2 p.m. match Friday. The match will be played at Mercyhurst College in Erie.

The winner of The Rock-Bloomsburg game will face second-seeded Mercyhurst (13-4-4) in a second-round match at 2 p.m. Sunday.

West Chester (13-2-5) earned the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament and will host the winner of a Friday match between #4 West Virginia Wesleyan (15-2-1) and #5 East Stroudsburg (11-5-4). 

Mercyhurst defeated Indiana (Pa.) by a 2-1 score and West Virginia Wesleyan nipped Concord 4-3 in an overtime shootout to win the PSAC and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championships and earned automatic berths in the NCAA tournament.

The Rock, Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg and West Chester all earned "at-large" berths in NCAA competition.

The opening-round match between The Rock and Bloomsburg will be the teams' second meeting this season. SRU won a 1-0 decision over the Huskies in a PSAC "crossover" game Sept. 27 in N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

Should The Rock win its first-round game, the Green and White would meet Mercyhurst for the fourth time this season. The Lakers won the first three meetings by 2-1, 2-1 and 5-2 scores, the latest coming last Tuesday in PSAC quarterfinal action.

The Rock, which is making its fifth NCAA tournament appearance under 14-year head coach Noreen Herlihy, is 2-4 all-time in NCAA competition.

SRU beat Bloomsburg 1-0 in the Green and White's first-ever NCAA playoff game in 2001 before Lock Haven took a 3-2 overtime decision from The Rock in the regional finals.

Two years later, The Rock -- fresh off a first-ever PSAC championship -- lost a 3-0 decision to West Chester in first-round action of the NCAA tournament.

In 2006, West Chester again ended The Rock season, this time with a 4-0 first-round decision.

West Chester scored a third straight NCAA-tournament win over SRU last year when the Golden Rams won a 1-0 decision in the second round of competition. SRU blanked Adelphi 2-0 in the opening round.

With 13 wins this fall, The Rock has now won 30 games in the last two seasons -- the best back-to-back total in the program's 16-year history.  The previous best was 28 wins in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

What makes this year's effort even more impressive is the fact that The Rock lost four of its top six scorers, including three all-region performers, from last year's 17-3-1 team.

The future looks equally bright for the Green and White; all but two players -- senior forwards Courtney Hoover and Shelly Regner -- will return for the 2009 season.

This year's Rock squad is led in scoring by sophomore forwards Alison Hindley and Ashley Paganie, who had 15 and eight goals, respectively. Paganie has also assisted on eight goals.

Senior goalie Sarah Lacy owns a 1.27 goals against average and an .803 save percentage and has recorded six shutouts this fall.