Columbia, Mo. - The 2013 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round bracket was released on Monday afternoon and the Cougar women's soccer team is headed to Costa Mesa, California to take on Vanguard University on Saturday, November 23^rd. Columbia, fresh off an American Midwest Conference (AMC) tournament championship victory over Park University on November 14^th, will be making its first appearance at the national tournament in just their second season as a program.

The Cougars (16-2-1) have dominated their competition for much of the year, leading the nation in both goals (105) and shutouts (13). Senior midfielder and AMC Player of the Year Stephanie Hale leads the NAIA in assists with 24, while also ranking tenth in goals with 22. Columbia is riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to September 24^th and has outscored opponents 73-3 during that span with eight shutouts. Junior Erica Ramirez has anchored the Cougars' stingy defense with 46 saves and a .836 save percentage. She was named to the First Team All-AMC squad along with Hale, Elise Castellanos, MacKenzie Knepper, Tori Magaletta, and Mallory Page. Knepper was also named the Conference Newcomer of the Year in addition to Freshman of the Year Taylor Hagenhoff. Head Coach John Klein was voted the league's coach of the year to round out the awards for Columbia.

Vanguard (15-4-0) is ranked 12^th in the Final NAIA Top 25 Poll and is coming off a 4-0 loss to fifth-ranked Westmont (Calif.) College in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament. The Lions finished third in the GSAC during the regular season with a league record of 7-3. Senior forward Kayla Arenas and junior midfielder Jennifer Martin led the conference with 14 goals and 13 assists, respectively. As a team, Vanguard led the GSAC in goals (61) and goals per game (3.2), while also posting seven shutouts on the year.

The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to the final site of the 2013 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship, presented by the Sports Medicine Center at Orthopedic Group, P.C. in Orange Beach, Ala.