INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University women's soccer clinched an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Tournament courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Marian (Ind.) University in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Championship.

The No. 11-ranked Wildcats will play in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round for the second consecutive season.

"There was a lot of hustle and desire out there by the girls today. I can't even mention how many players played great," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Dr. John Bratcher.

Indiana Wesleyan and No. 16-ranked Marian (17-2-1) shared the MCC regular season title as both teams finished conference play at 7-1-0. Marian earned the top seed and home field advantage due to their 1-0 win at Indiana Wesleyan earlier in the season.

But IWU avenged their only MCC loss on Saturday afternoon by dominating play on both ends of the field. Indiana Wesleyan outshot Marian 29-7 and held a hefty 16-4 advantage in shots on goal.

Despite the lopsided shot totals, the match remained scoreless after the first 45 minutes. The Wildcats held a 13-1 advantage in shots during the half.

Indiana Wesleyan (17-2-1) continued to pressure the Marian defense in the second half and broke through the Knight defense early in the half. IWU junior midfielder Megan Marshall cracked her 12th goal of the season in the 49th minute for the eventual game-winning goal. Junior midfielder Brittany Smith was credited with the assist.

"It was unfortunate we didn't get any goals in the first half because we just performed so well. But we were able to keep attacking and get one early in the second half," said Bratcher.

The match remained a one goal contest until the 82nd minute when Indiana Wesleyan freshman forward Kylie Dial added an insurance goal for the 2-0 Wildcat lead. Dial's goal was her 10th of the season and assisting on the play was freshman forward Kelsey Johnston.

Bratcher stated, "Our girls played very well as a team today and we executed about as good as we could. We practiced for the faster turf and were ready and played real fast." Bratcher continued, "Marian came out in a different formation than we expected. But we were able to see it very quickly and adjust to their formation and neutralize it. I am very proud of how the girls responded."

IWU freshman goalkeeper Beth Anne Nowak was credited with her sixth shutout of the season as she made four saves. The shutout is the seventh straight for Indiana Wesleyan and 13th of the season as IWU has not allowed a goal in the last 691:50. The last opponent to score on IWU was over a month ago when Marian earned a 1-0 win on October 13.

Marian goalkeeper Jessica Fisher was busy all match long. Fischer was able to keep Marian close with 13 saves on 15 shots faced.

Indiana Wesleyan will learn where they will compete in NAIA National Championship Opening Round and who their opponent will be on Sunday night. Marian will be forced to wait until Sunday to find out if they were awarded one of seven at-large bids.

Check http://www.iwuwildcats.com/ for further NAIA National Championship Tournament information as it becomes available.

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