St. Ambrose will visit Concordia (Ore.) for a first-round match of the 2008 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship on Saturday, Nov. 22. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. PST at the Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex in Beaverton, Ore.

SAU (9-8-3) is making its first-ever appearance in the national tournament. The Queen Bees earned an automatic berth after winning the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament.

The team will face a stiff test in the first round. Concordia finished the season 19-0-1 overall and won the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season and conference tournament championships. The Cavaliers, seeded fifth, are making their eighth straight national tournament appearance.

St. Ambrose does enter the tournament on a bit of a roll. The Bees rebounded from a slow start that saw the team lose its first six matches of the season. Since that point, the team went 9-2-3 the rest of the way, including a 7-1 mark in the MCC to win the regular-season conference title.

After a 6-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan in the MCC Tournament quarterfinals, SAU earned a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Clarke in the tournament semifinals.

In the MCC championship match, the Bees punched their ticket into the national tournament by defeating Grand View 3-2 in a penalty-kick shootout after a 0-0 tie through two overtimes.

"It is a great feeling for all involved in the program," said SAU head coach Jon Mannall. "After a tough beginning to the year, it took some great leadership from our upperclassman, especially our seniors, to create the belief within the program that we could turn it around. The win over Grand View really capped off that feeling and proved that all the hard work has paid off."

More information on the 2008 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship, including the complete bracket, is available on the NAIA website.