The Lawrence (12-5-1) women's soccer team hosts Aurora University (12-8-1) Wednesday in a first-round match of the Division III Championships. The match is set for 1:00 p.m.
It is the first time Lawrence has hosted a NCAA tournament game since 1981, when the Viking football team defeated the University of Minnesota-Morris 21-14 in overtime in the Banta Bowl.
The Vikings and Spartans have only played twice but both of those matches have been within the past year. Lawrence won 3-2 in overtime at Aurora back on Oct. 21., with Megan Tiemann scoring the game-winning goal just three minutes into the extra period. The Vikings also defeated Aurora 2-1 on Oct. 13, 2000, in the first meeting between the two schools.
Lawrence got its berth in the NCAA tournament by winning the Midwest Conference Tournament this past weekend. The Vikings defeated Grinnell College 2-1 in the tournament semifinals at Lake Forest College. The Vikings then stopped St. Norbert College 1-0 in overtime in the championship match, with Tiemann scoring the golden goal 14 minutes into the extra period.
Aurora went through the regular season in the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference unbeaten at 5-0. The Spartans, the top seed in the NIIC Tournament, lost to fourth-seed Dominican University in penalty kicks. Aurora rebounded to beat Benedictine University 5-2 in the third-place match.