PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's soccer team is set to make an NCAA appearance for the third straight season on Saturday afternoon. The Explorers will travel to Washington D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas at 1:00pm, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
La Salle Explorers (15-4-3; 5-2-1 A-10) at Georgetown Hoyas (15-2-2; 7-1-1 Big East)
Saturday, November 16, 2013 | 1 PM | Shaw Field – Washington D.C. | NCAA – First Round
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Last Time Out – Atlantic 10 Tournament
The Explorers were flying high heading into the Atlantic 10 tournament, winning three straight matches to conclude the regular season, while outscoring their opponents 10-0 in the process. The Blue & Gold did not slow down in the post-season, outscoring their opponents 4-1 en route to their second consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship.
 
The Explorers began their title defense with a 2-0 shutout of the George Washington Colonials in the opening round, gaining revenge on the team that dealt them a 1-0 defeat earlier this season. Deadlocked in a 0-0 stalemate through the first 74 minutes of the contest, the Blue & Gold hit the Colonials with a scoring barrage, netting two goals in the span of :32 seconds in the 75^th minute to take a commanding lead. Renee Washington broke the ice for the Explorers, finishing off a precision header across the box by Kelsey Haycook. Jackie Cammarata scored the insurance marker, striking a sizzling rocket into the upper third far corner of the net for her first goal of the season.
 
La Salle continued their run with a hard fought 1-0 overtime victory over UMass in the semifinals. The Explorers fired 21 shots through regulation time, but Minutewomen goalkeeper Danielle Kriscenski stood tall making seven sparkling saves to keep the Blue & Gold off the scoreboard. The Explorers finally bested Kriscenski just over five minutes into the overtime session. Maryam Huseini sent a dangerous through ball into the 18-yard box to Haycook, who was hauled down by a Minutewomen defender drawing a potential game-winning penalty kick. The Explorers sent their outstanding senior Renee Washington to take the attempt, and she made no mistakes burying the shot for her ninth goal of the season.
 
The championship match pitted the Explorers against a familiar rival in the Dayton Flyers. Proceedings took an early bleak turn as Dayton bested goalkeeper Jessica Wiggins just :42 seconds into the contest.
 
The Explorers battled back, outshooting the Flyers 10-5 the rest of the half. The Blue & Gold finally broke through in the 36^th minute. Deja Davis ripped shot from just inside the 18-yard box, but was denied on a dazzling diving save by the Flyers keeper Elizabeth James. However, she was unable to corral the ball, spilling a juicy rebound into the six-yard box. Haycook pounced on the rebound, driving it into the twine for her fifteenth goal of the season.
 
The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 throughout the rest of regulation and two overtime sessions, despite golden scoring chances for both teams. Deja Davis struck a ball that was denied by the crossbar midway through the second half, while Jessica Wiggins fended off a Flyer breakaway in the overtime session to preserve the tie, forcing the game into penalty kicks.
 
Head coach Paul Royal decided to spell Wiggins in the penalty shootout, opting for the well rested Katie Getzinger instead. Through the first ten attempts, the teams still could not break the stalemate, with both teams netting four of their five attempts. The sixth round was the golden round for the Explorers. Kerri Aiken calmly bested James to give the Explorers the lead. Getzinger straddled the goal line looking to make the lead standup, which is exactly what she did. She sprawled out to deny a well-placed shot heading for the upper third of the net, giving the Explorers their second consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship.

Scouting the Explorers
Haycook and Washington lead an Explorer attack, which finished on top of the Atlantic 10 in assists (54) while finishing second in points (140) and goals (43).
 
Haycook led the conference this season posting career highs in all three categories. She enters Saturday's matchup with 41 points, 15 goals and 11 assists. Her 40 career goals are in a three-way tie for first in program history, while her 99 career points rank third and 19 career assists are tied for seventh all-time.
 
Washington has had an excellent season in her own right. She has collected 24 points so far this season, netting nine goals and six assists. She finished fifth in the conference in scoring, while in a tie for third in goals and tie for seventh in assists. Her 40 career markers are tied with Haycook and '02 graduate Amy Schneider for first in program history. Her 101 career points are second to Schneider all-time, while her 21 career assists are fifth most at La Salle.
 
Maryam Huseini has been the primary creator for the Blue & Gold attack. She posted new career highs for points and assists, notching 15 points and 13 assists entering Saturday. Her 13 assists were third most in the Atlantic 10 this season and the most ever in a single-season at La Salle, while her 26 career assists are third most in program history.
 
Jessica Wiggins has anchored the back end for the Explorers down the stretch, starting the Explorers last six matches. She led the conference with nine shutouts, while also posting top marks in the A-10 in goals against average (0.46) and save percentage (.877). Her nine shutouts are third most for a single-season in program history. She enters Saturday with a 9-2-3 record on the season.

Scouting the Hoyas
Georgetown has enjoyed a fine season as member of the Big East, posting a 15-2-2 mark, which earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, their fourth appearance in program history. This Saturday will be the first time they have hosted an NCAA Tournament match on their home field. The Hoyas have been exceptionally strong at home, posting a 9-0-2 mark at Shaw Field this season. Georgetown is 3-3-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Hoyas enter Saturday coming off a hard luck loss to DePaul in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. The Hoyas earned a bye to the semifinals as the second seed in postseason, but the bye could not help them avoid the pesky DePaul Blue Demons. Georgetown outshot the Blue Demons by an obscene 26-2 margin, but was unable to best keeper Alejandria Godinez who made seven saves in the contest to score the upset 1-0 upset of the Hoyas.
 
The Hoyas boast a dynamic offense and a smothering defense. Offensively, they led the Big East in points (162), goals (56) and assists (50). Defensively, they led the conference goals allowed (14) while finishing fourth in shutouts (9).
 
A duo of forwards lead the Hoyas attack up top. Senior Kaitlin Brenn topped all Hoyas with eight goals on the season, while collecting 22 points overall. Her eight markers were tied for fourth in the Big East this season, while her 22 points were tied for fifth best in the conference. She has collected 72 career points during her four years at Georgetown.
 
The other half of the forward duo is junior Audra Ayotte. She also collected 22 points on the season, finding the back of the net six times, while ranking second on the team with ten assists. She ranked tied for fifth in the Big East in points, while her ten assists placed her in a tie for second best in the conference.
 
While the Hoyas possess two strong strikers, the leader of the Hoyas is their exceptional midfielder Daphne Corboz. She led the Hoyas this season with 27 points, posting seven goals and thirteen assists. Her 27 points were the fourth best mark in the Big East, while she led the conference in assists and was tied for sixth in goals. Her dazzling play earned her Big East Midfielder of the Year honors.
 
The Hoyas also like to interject their defenders into the offense on set pieces. Senior defender Kailey Blain collected 14 points, including six goals this season for the Hoyas. Senior defender Mary Kroenig added 12 points, five times finding the back of the net.
 
Excellent redshirt sophomore keeper Emma Newins patrols the backend for the Hoyas. She has played 1610:48 of the team's 1727:42 minutes so far this season, posting a sparkling 12-2-1 record in net. She was second in the Big East with a 0.73 goals against average.
 
Up Next
If the Explorers win, they will take on the winner of Virginia (20-1-0) vs. St. Francis (PA) (13-7-1) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The second round match is scheduled to take place on November 22^nd. Virginia is the number one overall seed in this year's tournament.