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Leslie Henny

Women's Soccer

#12 Rock and #6 Cal U set for Sweet 16 showdown

No. 12 Slippery Rock and No. 6 California (Pa.) will renew one of the best rivalries in the Atlantic Region when the teams meet Friday in the NCAA Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y.

Live Stats  |  Live Video  |  Complete Game Notes Packet (PDF)  |  NCAA Bracket  |  SRU Stats  |  Cal U Stats

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The 12th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's soccer team and No. 6 California University (Pa.) are set to renew one of the top rivalries in the Atlantic Region when they meet in the NCAA Round of 16 Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Plumeri Sports Complex in Albany, N.Y.

Tickets: Ticket prices are set by the NCAA at  $7 for adults, $3 for all students and $1 for children between the ages of 2-12.

Live Coverage: The College of Saint Rose is the host for the Round of 16 Friday and the quarterfinals Sunday. The St. Rose sports information office will provide live statistics and is planning to show a live video stream of the game. The SRU sports information office will also provide live updates through the official Slippery Rock Twitter account (@Rock_Athletics).

National Rankings: California was ranked sixth in the final NSCAA Division II National Rankings of the regular season, released last week. Slippery Rock is ranked No. 12. The other two teams competing Friday include No. 4 St. Rose and No. 13 American International, meaning no team competing at the Albany location will be ranked lower than No. 13.

Regional Playoffs: The seeds held true in Super Region 1 with the Atlantic No. 1 California and No. 2 Slippery Rock getting through to the Round of 16. The Vulcans won easily, 6-1, over Kutztown in the second round, while Slippery Rock won in overtime, 2-1, over No. 24 Shippensburg.

East Region Too: The other half of the Super Region held true as well, with East Region No. 1 St. Rose and No. 2 American International advancing to the Round of 16. The winners of Friday's regional finals will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. with a trip to the NCAA Final Four in Evans, Ga. on the line.

Records: Slippery Rock enters the Sweet 16 with an overall record of 14-3-2. The Rock had a nine-game unbeaten streak snapped in the PSAC quarterfinals against Gannon, but bounced back in the NCAA 2nd round.

California enters the match with an overall record of 18-2-2. The Vulcans are riding a 19-game unbeaten streak in which they have allowed just four goals.

Familiar Foes: Slippery Rock and Caifornial met on the same field in Albany two years ago in the Sweet 16 and the Vulcans knocked The Rock out of the playoffs. Since then, SRU has defeated California in three of four games, including the PSAC title game last fall, the NCAA 2nd round last fall and the season opener this year to run the current streak to three wins in favor of The Rock. SRU is the only team in the region with a win over Cal this fall and one of only two to score two goals against Cal.

Top Teams in the PSAC: Slippery Rock and California are the last two PSAC champions, with SRU winning the title over Cal in 2012, and California winning the title this fall. The Vulcans and The Rock finished the year ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the PSAC and the Atlantic Region and have seemingly been on a collision course for each other since the season-opener between the two teams.

Rock-Solid Tradition: Slippery Rock has put together 18 consecutive winning seasons and 16 straight with more than 10 wins. The 18 straight winning records ranks 8th in Division II history. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the program's beginning in 1993.

Postseason Glory: SRU has won three PSAC titles, is playing in its ninth NCAA Tournament and is playing in the Round of 16 for the third consecutive year. The Rock has earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in four consecutive seasons.

Scouting The Rock: Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 37-11 and outshooting the opposition 252-137.

SRU has been impressive when considering the youth of the key contributors, as a pair of freshmen are the leading scorers and two freshmen start on the back line.

Andrea Felix leads the team with 10 goals and five assists, while Dara Demich trails her with nine goals and one assist. Nicole Krueger has tallied four goals and one assist and Lauren Impey has scored two goals and handed out a team-high five assists.

Allison Harbart, Crysta Ganter and Cailin Conner each have two goals and three assists and Ali Brosky has two goals and two assists to cap the top scorers.

The Rock's back four of Impey, Izabel Scott, Marissa Scullin and Lynn Neef has allowed just 59 shots on goal in 19 games, an average of only 3.1 per game.

Dana O'Neill has started 16 games in goal for SRU and is 11-3-1 with a 0.63 goals against average and a .783 save percentage.

Top Netminder: O'Neill was voted for the 2nd year in a row as the top goalkeeper in the PSAC by the league's head coaches, earning first team honors. She ranks second among all active players in Division II in career shutouts with 28 and has moved up into the top-20 in the Division II record book in career shutouts this fall. She was also the only Division II keeper selected to the NSCAA All-Academic team last year.

Rookie of the Year: Andrea Felix was named the PSAC Freshman of the Year this fall in voting by the league head coaches.

Defender of the Year: Lauren Impey was named the PSAC Defensive Player of the Year by the league head coaches.
California in the Playoffs: Cal is making its fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament and has reached as far as the NCAA quarterfinals in 2009 and in 2011 (with a 2-0 win over Slippery Rock).

Scouting the Vulcans: California boasts one of the highest scoring teams in the nation and one of the best defensively. The Vulcans are outscoring opponents 64-8 and have allowed just 63 shots on goal (2.86 per game).

Erin Hogan leads the team with six goals and a Division II-best 17 assists for 29 points, while Haley Henderson is the top goal scorer with 10 goals and four assists. Chelsea Crockett and Janelle McCann each have eight goals on the year and Stephanie Thompson has chipped in five goals.

Cal has leaned on two keepers this year with Ashley Magruda carrying most of the load with 14 starts. She is 10-1-2 with a 0.29 goals against average and a .879 save percentage. Meghan Jayes, who played in the first meeting between SRU and Cal this season, is 8-1 with a 0.50 goals against average and a .857 save percentage.

Similar Numbers: Both Slippery Rock and California boast very similar numbers on defense. The Rock has allowed 11 goals and a total of 59 shots on goal this season. California has allowed eight goals and 63 shots on goal. The teams are close to identical in the number of shots they manage to get on target as well. SRU has 121 offensive shots on goal in 19 games, while California has 131 shots on target in 22 games.

Differeny Style of Play: Slippery Rock plays a game based on crisp passing and solid defense and rarely finishes a game with more fouls than its opponent. The Rock has been called for just 123 total fouls and only three yellow cards all season. California plays a much more physical game and has been called for 121 more fouls than SRU this season (244 total) and 15 more cautions (18 yellow cards).

Series: Slippery Rock owns a 20-9-2 all-time advantage in the series and has won the last three meetings.

Last Meeting: (Box Score) Freshmen playing in their first collegiate game became the heroes for Slippery Rock in a season-opening 2-1 win over California that was the first game of the year for both teams. That would be the only Atlantic Region loss the Vulcans would suffer this year and one of only two games Cal would allow more than one goal in (L, 2-1 to Slippery Rock Sept. 5 and L, 2-1 against Saginaw Valley State Sept. 8).

SRU scored the opening goal in the 38th minute when Dara Demich scored off a rebound from an Andrea Felix shot. Cal tied the game at 1-1 in the 72nd minute when Haley Henderson scored through traffic off an assist from Janelle McCann.

The game-winner came in the 78th minute when SRU freshman Sam Thornton sent a long ball over the defense and Felix flicked it over the keeper for her first career goal.

Cal posted advantages of 11-8 in total shots, 6-5 in shots on goal and 4-3 in corner kicks. Dana O'Neill made five saves for SRU and Meghan Jayes made three saves in her first collegiate game for Cal.

SRU Head Coach: Noreen Herlihy is in her 19th season at the helm of the Slippery Rock program. She has led the team to 18 consecutive winning seasons and owns a career record of 238-106-29 at SRU. Herlihy owns a record of 20-7-2 all-time against California (Pa.) and is 3-1 against current California coach Gene Smith.

Cal U Head Coach: Gene Smith is in his second season as the head coach at Cal U, where he has led the team to the NCAA Tournament in both years and claimed the PSAC title this fall. He owns a record of 34-7-3 as a head coach and is 1-3 against Slippery Rock and coach Herlihy. The one Cal win in his tenure came during the regular season in 2012, a 2-1 victory for the Vulcans in overtime.

Up Next: The winner of the Atlantic Region title game moves on to play the winner of the East Region title Sunday in Albany in the NCAA quarterfinals. SRU has never advanced to the quarterfinal round and has never played against American International or the College of St. Rose.










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