The game
will be held in Davenport
on Saturday where St. Ambrose plays host for the 2 p.m. match.
No. 2/3 seeds Clarke College and Grand View University square off in the other semifinal match.
Saturday's semifinal appearance for Ashford will be the school's first since Saints' Head Coach Mick Regan took the reins of the program in 2004.
As the tournament's fifth seed, AU is coming off an upset win in the quarterfinals over No. 4 seed Viterbo University, ending the V-Hawks season on their home field.
Regan has his team seeking their second straight upset in the postseason, this time to avenge a close regular-season loss, 1-2, to the Queen Bees on Oct. 6.
"It was a tough loss because we've had close battles over the years," Regan said." We're certainly the underdog heading in. I like it, but we'll have to be in top form because St. Ambrose is the best team in our conference."
Regan's offense was in potent form to begin the postseason last weekend, getting productive play from his frontline in reigning offensive conference player of the week Cassandra Broderick of Bettendorf (2 G, 1 A), Abbye Garcia of Stillman Valley, Ill., (GW G) and Chelsea Fisher of Calgary, Alberta (2 G).
Junior midfielder Erika Jakobsen of Rock Island, Ill., assisted three of Ashford's five goals against Viterbo and goalkeeper Kylie Willet of East Moline, Ill., received MCC Defensive Player of the Week honors for making four saves in the win.
St. Ambrose dispatched eighth-seeded Clarke College with a 7-2 rout in the quarterfinals. The Queen Bees continued to knock on the door of the NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll, receiving 123 votes in yesterday's release.
Forward Ashley Dexter led the MCC with 17 goals in the regular season and found the net against Ashford in their prior meeting.
Broderick scored AU's lone goal against SAU in the October match, but the Saints showed they could exploit the Queen Bees' defense in the second half with ball control. SAU scored the winning goal with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation.
"We really don't have any pressure on us coming in as the No. 5 seed," Regan said. "We're hoping to spoil the party. Our team knows the significance of it."
