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MACOMB, Ill. - The IUPUI women's soccer team has departed Indianapolis to head to Macomb, Ill., site of the 2008 Summit League Women's Soccer Championships. Head Coach Chris Johnson's team earned a postseason berth for the first-time since 2001 and claimed a share of its first-ever regular season crown. 

The No. 3 seeded Jaguars will take on No. 2 seed South Dakota State on Friday at 2 p.m. at John MacKenzie Alumni Field on the WIU campus. The winner will take on the winner of the early match between top seeded Oakland and No. 4 seed Southern Utah.

IUPUI's lone league loss this season came against South Dakota State at Kuntz Stadium on Sept. 26 by a 1-0 score. The Jaguars then proceeded to reel off seven straight Summit League victories as part of their school record 13 wins on the year. IUPUI enters the postseason having won 10 of 11 matches and six straight dating back to Oct. 17.

"South Dakota State is a very strong and experienced team with a lot of good senior leadership throughout their starting lineup," Johnson said. "On the other hand, we have a very young team and I think it is important for us to come out and play with poise and maturity from the opening whistle." 

Offensively, IUPUI boasts a three-pronged attack led by freshmen Alicia Brock and Megan Hock and junior Katrina McCrory. Brock leads the team with nine goals and Hock has seven scores this season. Hock was recently named to The Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week, marking the first-time an IUPUI student-athlete has ever picked up the award. 

McCrory has six goals, half of which are game-winners, and a team-high four assists from her center midfield position. 

Defensively, junior goalkeeper Jamie Farrell has been rock solid with a 0.75 goals against average and .859 save percentage. Eight of her 13 wins have come via shutout, establishing yet another school record. 

In front of her, the core of defenders which includes senior Lindsey Warfield, junior Stephanie Hoffman, sophomores Anna Pigg and Kelly Williams and freshman Margaret Allgeier, has been nothing short of outstanding. The Jags defense has allowed less than six shots on goal per game during the regular season. 

Johnson, making his first tournament appearance at the helm of the Jaguars, is confident about his team's outlook this weekend.

"We need to focus on one game at a time," Johnson said. "We talk to our players a lot about 'controlling the things we can control'. Going into this weekend, we need to control how hard we prepare for our first round matchup and how hard we play in that game. 

"If we play to the best of our abilities then we will have a good chance to move onto the tournament championship and take that same approach again."