DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team is the new No. 1 women's soccer program in the nation according to the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, released by the NAIA on Tuesday. The Eagles received 583 total points and 12 of the 21 first-place votes to top the national poll for only the first time since Oct. 8, 2013.

The Eagles will put their No. 1 ranking on the line when they travel to West Palm Beach to take on 14th-ranked Northwood for The Sun Conference Women's Soccer regular season title at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Women's soccer competition made the move to divisional play in 2012 when the number of TSC teams sponsoring the sport grew to 12. In each season since then, Northwood and Embry-Riddle have emerged as champions of their respective divisions and subsequently battled for the conference crown.

QUICK HITS
• The Eagles and the Seahawks are meeting in The Sun Conference regular season championship for the third straight year
• Seven of the last eight conference regular season and/or tournament titles have been won by either Northwood or Embry-Riddle
• The conference regular season champion will receive the league's first automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship

THE EAGLES
Playing in their final season of NAIA competition, the Blue and Gold will be looking for the program's first outright regular season title in the Samantha Bohon era. The Eagles, who have won three of the last four conference tournament crowns, are 15-1 overall and earned a spot in the regular season championship game by going undefeated in conference play with a 9-0 ledger.

THE SEAHAWKS
Northwood was also unbeaten in league play at 9-0 and brings a 12-4-2 overall record into Wednesday's game. Mathew Dunn is in his fourth season as the head coach for the Seahawks who have won the last four regular season titles.

THE MATCH-UP
The regular season championship has the potential to produce a number of goals with four of the top six scorers in the league taking the field. The Eagles will be led by Andrea Froshaug (13 goals, 5 assists) and Isabelle Haaranen (11 goals, 5 assists), while Johanna Engberg (24 goals, 11 assists) and Linnea Lindmark (10 goals, 9 assists) will look to pace the Seahawks.

THE ERAU-NU SERIES
Wednesday's game will mark the eighth time that Embry-Riddle and Northwood will face each other as ranked foes in women's soccer. Northwood is 17-12 all-time against the Eagles. The last meeting between the two teams was on Aug. 23, 2014 when the Eagles topped the Seahawks 2-0 in both teams' season opener.

THE LAST MEETING
The Embry-Riddle and Northwood women's soccer teams last met on Aug. 23, 2014 when the Eagles walked away with a 2-0 win.
 
The Eagles, who lost by the same two-goal margin in the 2013 conference regular season title match, bested the Seahawks in every offensive category with a 12-4 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. Neither side was able to capitalize on their scoring chances, leading to a scoreless draw at the half.

Freshman Annie Gelnaw entered the contest with 15 minutes left in the first half and was one of the 11 chosen by Bohon to start the second half. After a few threatening runs down the right flank, Gelnaw broke through with the first goal of her collegiate career in the 61st minute. The play started with Andrea Frøshaug who won the ball just inside the Eagles' defensive half. The junior completed a pass to Katherine Ebbs who lifted a ball to Gelnaw racing down the right. Gelnaw dribbled the ball into the box and slipped her second shot of the game past Northwood goalkeeper Mathilda Hjalte to give the Blue and Gold a 1-0 lead.

With just over eight minutes remaining in the match, Froshaug release Isabelle Haaranen down the middle and Haaranen rifled home an insurance goal to seal the 2-0 win.

EMBRY-RIDDLE BY THE NUMBERS
207–All-time wins by Embry-Riddle
117–Wins in conference play
108–Wins by eighth-year Head Coach Samantha Bohon
17–Seasons of Embry-Riddle Women's Soccer
13–NAIA National Tournament Appearances
9–Home contests for the Eagles this season, including four TSC games
3–NAIA National Quarterfinal Appearances
1–Current rank for ERAU Women's Soccer in NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll