Lady Pioneers Ready for Nationals

The #4 seeded Alfred State women's soccer team heads into the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships in Charleston, WV this week looking to avenge last year's loss in the semifinals. The Lady Pioneers take on No. 5 Florida College on Thursday, November 6 at Noon.

Alfred State finished its regular season with a 9-7-1 mark and is led by Kali Muhleisen (Alfred-Almond) and Kaitlin Huyler (Jasper-Troupsburg). With a combined 29 of the blue and gold's 57 goals this season, Muhleisen (19 goals, 2 assists) and Huyler (10g, 9a) add experience and speed, respectively, on offense. Allison Danielek (Brockport) and Morgan Schreiner (Spencerport) have shared time in net, with Danielak has made 70 saves in 977 minutes of action.

Florida College enters the tournament as the #5 seed with a 6-6-2 record. The Falcons have scored 31 goals and allowed 19 while remaining a perfect 2-for-2 on penalty kicks. Michelle Rodriguez leads Florida College with nine goals and five assists while teammate Jessica Webb adds six goals and three assists. Goalkeeper Abby Montenaz has made 40 saves and two shutouts.

The USCAA National Championship will feature ten teams with games held in Charleston, West Virginia. WVU Tech will play host to both the men's and women's national tournaments from Nov. 5 – Nov. 8.

Alfred State and Florida College are part of a ten-team field that includes: No. 1 University of Maine-Ft. Kent (12-2-1), No. 2 SUNY ESF (12-1), No. 3 Daemen College (4-13-1), No. 6 Carlow University (8-5), No. 7 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (11-5), No. 8 WVU Tech (3-8-3), No. 9 Bryant and Stratton-Syracuse (6-6) and No. 10 Unity College (9-4).

This is Alfred State's second appearance at the USCAA National Championships. In 2013, the Lady Pioneers fell to eventual-national champ U Maine-Ft. Kent in the semifinals.

Follow the game action of Alfred State vs. Florida College on Nov. 6th: http://soccer.theuscaa.com/2014_Soccer_Championship/Stats/boxscores2/20141106_ef7o.xml

USCAA Soccer National Championships homepage: http://soccer.theuscaa.com/landing/index