NOTES
VIDEO | STATS
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – For the 14th time in the last 16 years, the University of West Florida women's soccer team has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. This time, UWF will enter as a 5-seed and face conference rival No. 21 North Alabama – the regional host and 4-seed – on Friday at 1 pm at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex in Florence, Alabama.
 
Tickets are $5 and will be on sale at the gate. Children 12 and under will be admitted free. The match will be live streamed through North Alabama's Stretch Internet portal, and the link for the stream can be found above and at GoArgos.com. Fans will also be able to follow along with the contest with live stats, at the same link.
 
SCOUTING UNA
* West Florida took a 5-1 win over the Lions on October 15, capping off a perfect 3-0 weekend.
* North Alabama is much better than that 5-1 loss would indicate, however. UNA is third in the GSC in goals per game (2.4)
* Kylie Huey and Shelby Wall each made the All-GSC first team as forwards this year, scoring 15 and 11 goals on the year, and Beatriz Fernandes took a first team spot as a midfielder. Haley Yarber was a second team selection as a defender.
* UNA holds a 2-6 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, falling in the First Round in each of the team's past two trips (2014, 2015). North Alabama picked up a win over Valdosta State in 2012 before UWF knocked them out, and the Lions defeated Florida Southern in 2009.
 
AGAINST THE REGION
* Despite leading the South Region in points per game (7.4), scoring average (2.8 goals per game), total goals (56), total assists (36) and total points (148) and ranking second in shutout percentage (0.55), UWF placed fifth in the final regional rankings of the year on Monday. The ranking put them in the top half of the South Region bracket for the NCAA Tournament, pairing up with North Alabama and Mississippi College.
* UWF and North Alabama are just two of the six teams in the South Region field this year. Mississippi College and Nova Southeastern are the 1 and 2 seeds, and Lee and Florida Tech are the 3 and 6.
* West Florida holds a 1-3 record against teams in the regional field this season, but holds a major advantage in the all-time standings against those same teams, with a 32-9-2 record.
 
IN THE TOURNAMENT
* This year marks the 14th time in 17 years of Joe Bartlinski's tenure that his Argonauts have reached the NCAA Tournament.
* UWF leads all GSC teams in tournament appearances (15) and wins (23).
* The Argonauts have seen North Alabama twice before in NCAA Tournament action, in 2009 (W, 6-1) and in 2012 (W, 4-2).
* West Florida took its third South Region title in the last five years in 2016, picking up wins over Nova Southeastern, Saint Leo and Barry before falling to eventual national runner-up Columbus State in double-overtime. UWF outscored those opponents 5-3.
 
OUR ALL-GSC PICKS
* Shantell Thompson, Deneisha Blackwood and Leonie Kreil each earned All-Gulf South Conference honors last week, with Thompson taking a spot on the first team.
* Thompson made an immediate impact in the GSC, recording an assist in UWF's season-opening win over Lynn and adding two more against Albany State just a few days later. She ranks second in the conference with eight assists on the year, and she is tied for third in the league with five assists in GSC matches this year.
* Blackwood missed six games due to injury, but her performance has been strong enough despite that missed time to earn her All-GSC plaudits. Blackwood ranks third in the GSC in shots per game (3.42), fourth in goals per game (.67) and fifth in points per game (1.42).
* Kreil has followed up a strong freshman campaign by becoming one of the elite point-scorers in the Gulf South Conference as a sophomore. She leads UWF with 25 total points, 8 goals and 9 assists.