SAN ANGELO – Training to excel along with focus and determination throughout its 20 games this season has led to an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II South Central Championships for the Angelo State soccer team which will travel to Commerce to play Metro State (14-1-5) in the first round of the regional tournament at 4 p.m. on Friday at the Lions Soccer Field.

The Angelo State-Metro State winner will advance to play Texas A&M-Commerce at 1 p.m. on Sunday with the winner advancing out of the super region and to the third round of the tournament. On the other side of the NCAA DII South Central region, St. Edward's and Dallas Baptist will play on Friday with that winner advancing to play top-seeded Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

"Metro has a rich soccer history and has another very good team this season," ASU head coach Travis McCorkle said. "We're excited about the opportunity to play them in the regional tournament and we feel good about our team going into it. It's been a process for our program to get back here and I'm proud of our team. It's been a great group who are doing a great job of representing the university and the ASU soccer program."

The No. 20-ranked Rambelles (15-4-1) will be making their second trip to the NCAA Division II regional tournament in program history and their first since 2010. ASU enters the tournament having won five of its last six games and has outscored its opponents 48-14 throughout the season. The team has recorded a multitude of program firsts, including total wins (15), consecutive unbeaten games (11), win streak (6), consecutive shutouts (7) and scoreless minutes (786).

"I can't even describe how happy I am right now," said ASU senior Caitlyn Conaway after the announcement. "I've been stressing out all day. It is such a relief and a blessing that we have this opportunity to continue playing. We put in a lot of hard work and earned this with our hard work and effort throughout the season."

"This is really exciting because our team put so much into this season," ASU senior Brittany Martinez said. "I know our team isn't satisfied and we're going to go there and give it our all."

Sierra Anderson leads Angelo State with 14 goals this season after recording the first hat trick of her career with a three-goal LSC semifinal game against ENMU last Friday. Anderson, who was selected as the LSC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, also assisted on a Brianne Brown goal in Sunday's championship game. A junior from Wichita Falls, she comes into the NCAA tournament with 23 career goals and also lead the Rambelles with 74 shots this season. Anderson ranks first in the conference and ninth in the nation with six game-winning goals and 24th in the nation with her 14 goals. Haley Mendel, an LSC first-team selection, is second on the team with seven goals and leads the team with six assists after connecting with Anderson for the third goal against the Zias. Mendel recorded the only other hat trick of the season for the Rambelles with a three-goal game earlier this season against Colorado Mesa. Loni Byers has added four goals and four assists and Tiffany Dang is second on the team with five assists in their freshmen season.

The Angelo State defense has been stingy throughout the season and is limiting opponents to 1.4 goals per game and only 4.6 shots on goal per game. ASU has recorded a program-best 12 shutouts this season with LSC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Shantel Wittke having nine shutouts and sophomore Natalie Nielsen recording two shutouts. The pair of ASU goalkeepers also combined for a shutout against Southwestern Oklahoma in the regular-season finale. Wittke has 66 saves on the season and a 0.64 goals against average entering the NCAA tournament. The defensive unit has been led throughout the season by Ashley Exford, Caitlyn Conaway, Brittany Martinez, Lauren Perry and Dakota Briseno. Exford was selected as the LSC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, while Conaway earned the third LSC second-team award of her career.

Along with the defenders, the midfield has played a vital role throughout with Kathleen Keoughan, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Selena Alvarez playing strong on defense and helping the team transition into an offensive attack. Keoughan was named an LSC honorable mention selection and has scored two goals this season and five in her career, while Alvarez scored the third goal of her season in the LSC final on Sunday. Alvarez found the back of the net unassisted when she gathered the ball and went upper-shelf over the outstretch arms of the A&M-Commerce goalkeeper to tie the game 2-2 in the 67th minute. Rodriguez has three goals and one assist in her freshman season, while senior Brianne Brown has scored three goals from the forward position. Brown opened scoring for the Rambelles in the LSC final with a 38th minute goal off an assist from Anderson. Brown has added two assists this season and has four goals and five assists in her career. ASU has seen 15 players score goals this season with Exford and Cynthia Andrews having two each and Dang, Callie Smith, Conaway, Martinez and Briseno each adding one goal each to the Rambelle total. Amalia Garcia, Perry, Alvarez, Anderson and Smith each have one assist, while Andrews and Keoughan each have two assists to go along with their two goals.

The Rambelles are 3-0 in neutral field games this season and are 0-1 all-time in NCAA DII tournament play. ASU's only trip to the NCAA postseason came in 2010 when the team traveled to Austin for the tournament where they lost to Abilene Christian. That team finished its season with a 13-7-1 record and had also advanced to the regional tournament with an at-large bid.

Angelo State enters the regional tournament ranked 19th in the nation by securing shutouts in 60 percent of its games and is 15th in the nation with its 48 total goals. ASU ranks first in the LSC in won-loss percentage (0.775), total points (128), total assists (32), scoring offense (2.40 per game) and is second in goals against average (0.687). Colorado School of Mines leads the nation with a 0.237 goals against average, a 0.925 saves percentage and has recorded a shutout in 80 percent of its games.