ONEONTA, N.Y.—The SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team will begin its run to a potential national championship at home this weekend when they host an opening weekend in the NCAA Div. III tournament. The Red Dragons will play Roger Williams University at 11:00 a.m. in its first round match. A match will follow their game between Rochester and Western Connecticut State scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. The two winners will face each other on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

The Admission for all games will be: Adults $6, senior citizens, military, and students $3, and children age 3-12 $2.

Oneonta (15-4-2) earned its 12th straight NCAA berth after winning the SUNYAC tournament last Saturday at home. The Red Dragons are making its 13th appearance overall and have a national championship in its trophy case from 2003 when they defeated the University of Chicago 2-1 in overtime, also played on Red Dragon Soccer Field.

Oneonta's current streak of NCAA appearances is the longest in New York State of any women's program for Div. I, II and III.

The Red Dragons will be looking to advance past the second round for the first time since 2005, which is the last time Oneonta has hosted an NCAA tournament round. Last season Oneonta defeated Skidmore in the first round, 1-0, before falling to Williams College in the second round, 2-1.

The NCAA tournament field starts with 63 teams this weekend, but whittled down to 32 after Sunday. The sectional round of the tournament will be next weekend at campus sites around the country. The national championship weekend is Dec. 3-4 at Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.

The Red Dragons have played eight of the teams that are in this year's field of 63 teams. They are 5-3-1 against those teams including two wins against Plattsburgh and single victories over Scranton, Rochester and Ithaca. The losses came against Allegheny, William Smith and Williams with its tie versus Hamilton.

The Red Dragons are unbeaten in its last six games (5-0-1) and are No. 2 in the final East Region poll before the NCAA tournament selection. They were also ranked 13th in the NSCAA final coaches' poll of the regular season released this week.

Oneonta has four players that have registered double digits in points entering the tournament led by junior Dana DeSimone (Clifton Park), who has 23 points on 11 goals and 1 assist. Senior Nha Wright (Schenectady) follows DeSimone with 20 points, followed by freshman Karly DeSimone (Clifton Park) (13 pts.) and sophomore Kayla Brantmeyer (Center Moriches) (12 pts.).

Junior Amy Lusby (West Babylon) assumed the starting goalkeeper position in the third game of the season for the Red Dragons. She has put together a solid campaign in 2010. She is 13-4-2 overall with a 0.73 goals against average with seven shutouts. She has logged 1729 minutes in goal and has a .856 save percentage.

This weekend's three other participants are no strangers to the postseason as they all have made appearances in the NCAA tournament. Rochester leads with 20 appearances, followed by Western Connecticut and Roger Williams who have made eight and one respectively.

The Yellowjackets are making their 26th consecutive appearance in post-season play, their third straight in the NCAA Division III playoffs. Rochester, a member of the University Athletic Association, secured a Pool C bid to the tournament by fashioning an 11-4-3 overall record. Five teams from the University Athletic Association were selected for the tournament this year, the most in UAA history. That quintet includes the national runner-up from a year ago, Washington (Mo.) University.

Junior forward Ellen Coleman, senior forward Bridgette Varin, and senior midfielder Kirsten Ross have sparked Rochester's offense this fall. Coleman leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 4 assists for 34 points. She has six game winning goals. Varin is second on the scoring chart with six goals and five assists for 17 points (two game winners). Ross is third, scoring five goals for 10 points. She has one game-winning goal.

The defense posted five shutouts this year and held eight other teams to one goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Bridget Lang logged 1,659:40 in goal. She allowed 20 goals (1.08 GAA), made 74 saves, and recorded the five solo shutouts.

Rochester head coach Terry Gurnett is concluding his 34th – and final – season on the Rochester sidelines. His career record heading into Friday's NCAA opener against Western Connecticut is 421 wins, 135 losses, and 65 ties. He is the all-time leader in victories among Division III women's soccer coaches and third in victories among women's soccer coaches in all three divisions. Gurnett directed Rochester to the first two NCAA Division III National Championships, beating Plymouth State (at Cortland), 1-0, in 1986, and defending that title with a 1-0 victory over William Smith College at home (Edwin Fauver Stadium) in 1987. He was selected as the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Coach of the Decade for the 1980s among his many coaching honors.

Western Connecticut (15-4-1) won its ninth Little East Conference Tournament title last weekend with a 1-0 win over UMass Boston. The win over the Beacons was the Colonials 13th straight shutout dating back to Sept. 22 when it dropped a four-hour, lightning-delayed thriller to nationally ranked Williams College, 1-0. During the stretch, the Colonials are 12-0-1 with a double-overtime tie to Scranton, the only "blemish". This will be the Colonials ninth NCAA Tournament. In 2007, they appeared in the Division III Final Four in Lake Buena Vista, FL. That same year, it set the then school record of 11 straight shutouts. Defense is obviously and strong point for Western Connecticut, having allowed just nine goals all season while outscoring its opponents 54-9.

The Colonials have five players who have registered double digits in points led by senior Lauren Matthews, who has 22 points on 10 goals and 2 assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Avery is 14-4-1 overall with a 0.42 goals against and 8 shutouts.

Roger Williams earned its bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference. They enter this weekend with a 16-4-1 overall record.

The Hawks had nine players selected to the All-Conference team led by junior Laurin Pendleton, who received Player of the Year honors, and freshman Hannah Noel, who was the Rookie of the Year.

Pendleton has had an impressive offensive season scoring 16 goals and adding nine assists for 41 points. Sophomore Kelsey McGee has started all 21 games in goal and has a 1.11 goals against average.

This weekend marks the Hawks' second NCAA tournament appearance in three years. In 2008, the team won its first NCAA Tournament match against Rochester to advance to the second round. In its second round matchup, the Hawks drew Ithaca College and were defeated, 2-0.