INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Virginia State University women's soccer team qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship for the first time in program history on Monday evening. The Yellow Jackets were announced as the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic Region by the NCAA and are slated to play No. 4-seeded Bloomsburg in the first round.

The first and second rounds in West Virginia State's pod of the Atlantic Region will be hosted by No. 1-seeded West Chester University. WVSU will play Bloomsburg in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 10th with a chance to advance and play West Chester in the second round on Saturday, Nov. 12th. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.

John A. Rockwell Field on the campus of West Chester University will serve as the site of competition. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens (65+) and students, $1 for children between the ages of two and five, and free for children under the age of two. Only cash will be permitted for ticket sales at the gate. Visitor parking will be located in the Q Lot on the opposite side of South New Street from Rockwell Field.

West Virginia State (16-2-2) will square up against Bloomsburg (14-4-2) out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) on Thursday. Both teams are coming off semifinal exits in their respective conference tournaments. The Yellow Jackets were defeated by Fairmont State, 1-0, with a goal conceded in the last 15 seconds of regulation in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament semifinals. Meanwhile, the Huskies were defeated by Gannon, 3-1, in the PSAC semifinals after conceding two first-half goals.

WVSU brings seven All-MEC honorees into the match, including three All-MEC First Team selections in Fran Soares-Cupertino, Esther Dhiramo and Brooklyn Pritt. Soares-Cupertino was also named the MEC Offensive Player of the Year after finishing the regular season with the fifth-highest points total (42) in NCAA Division II. Both Pritt and Dhiramo are also highly-capable goal-scorers and assist-makers that mostly play up top for the Yellow Jackets. The three star players have combined for 34 goals and 21 assists this year.

The four All-MEC Second Team honorees for State include goalkeeper Laura Galindo, defenders Ingrid Barbosa de Castro and Maxima Bellscheidt, and midfielder Paula Herold. Galindo, Barbosa de Castro, and Bellschedit were key parts of a defensive unit this season that allowed one or less goal in all but two games. Herold was the team's free kick specialist with four goals and three assists from her midfield position.

Bloomsburg brings six All-PSAC players into the match, including three All-PSAC First Team honorees in defender Lorelei Hartzfeld, forward Nicole Varano, and midfielder Alivia Gallardo. Hartzfield was a key part of a defensive unit that kept 14 shutouts on the season, the most in the country, and held opponents to .370 goals against average, the third-best mark in the nation. Varano led the Huskies in scoring with nine goals, including a conference-leading six game-winning goals. Gallardo played a crucial role as a defensive midfielder throughout the year.

The three All-PSAC Second Team selections for BU include defender Erin Ranegan, forward Paige Harris and goalkeeper Riley Springer. Springer's 10 clean sheets were sixth-most in Division II while her save percentage (.910) and goals against average (.359) were both fourth-best in the nation. Ranegan was another key player in Bloomsburg's defensive stronghold while Harris led the Huskies in assists with five and scored two game-winners this year.

For more information on the 2022 Atlantic Region Tournament, please visit West Chester's Tournament Central page. The full bracket for the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship can be found here.