DADE CITY, Fla. – Emily Vogler's two goals in Sunday's 2-1 win over Saint Leo helped the University of West Florida women's soccer team advance to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Argonauts improved to 18-4 on the year with their fifth consecutive win, and their 13th win in the last 14 games.
 
UWF and Fort Hays State are the only teams that played on Friday and will advance into the round of 16. FHSU advanced on penalty kicks, meaning West Florida is the only team in the tournament that picked up two wins on the weekend. The win was West Florida's Gulf South Conference-best 21st in the NCAA Tournament.
 
"Saint Leo plays with a lot of passion, a lot of pride, and they're well-coached," head coach Joe Bartlinski said. "For us to play Friday night and then turn around and play Sunday was a great testament to how hard our youngsters worked during the season. It's also a testament to how difficult our conference is. The teams we play in our conference prepared us for a game like today."
 
West Florida was aggressive from the start, and it paid off with an Emily Vogler goal in the 14th minute.
 
Vogler's first goal of the game came off a Sara Helgadottir free kick that found Vogler's head about five yards out, when Vogler flicked her head back and got past the SLU keeper. Helgadottir was credited with her 15th assist of the season, a total that ranks second among all Division II players.
 
Vogler struck again in the 38th minute when she followed up on a shot from Alisa Festagallo that was blocked by Saint Leo keeper Meghan Charlton.
 
Keeper Katelyn Burkhart made four saves on the day to keep the Lions at bay, and she improved her record to 17-2 with a 0.34 goals against average.
 
The defense was sharp for UWF yet again, as Saint Leo was able to total just five shots on goal. 2016 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year and conference leader in goals Arielle Kabangu was held without a shot.
 
UWF has been playing its best soccer over the last six weeks, going 12-1 since the start of October and outscoring its opponents 35-2 in that time.
 
UWF will face Barry in the South Region final of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, November 18, in Miami Shores, Florida. Kickoff at Buccaneer Field is 5:0 p.m. Eastern time. The Argonauts will be competing for the South Region title for the third time in the last five years.

The Southeast Region Final will also be played at Barry on Friday at 7:30 pm. Columbus State and North Georgia, the top two seeds from the Southeast advanced to the final. The winner of those two games will play at Barry on Sunday at 1:00 pm as part of the NCAA Quarterfinals.