MARION, Ind. -- The first ever NAIA National Championship event in Indiana Wesleyan University history will be a women's soccer match as Indiana Wesleyan hosts Houghton (N.Y.) College in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round on Saturday, November 21.

The Wildcats are the No. 13-seed in the 32 team field. A total of 16 Opening Round matches will be played at host sites with the 16 winners advancing to the final round site at Decatur, Alabama from November 30 through December 5.

Indiana Wesleyan earned an automatic bid into the national tournament with their 2-0 victory over Marian (Ind.) University on Saturday in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament Championship.

IWU was ranked No. 11 in the final NAIA Top-25 Coaches' Poll and is currently 17-2-1. The trip to the national tournament is the fifth in IWU history and the second straight. The Wildcats are 1-4-0 all-time at the tournament.

Houghton earned one of two automatic bids from the American Mideast Conference by winning the AMC regular season championship. The Highlanders tied Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) University 0-0 in the conference tournament championship but lost in a shootout.

Houghton finished No. 22 in the last national poll and will bring a 15-1-4 record into the Opening Round contest. This year's bid for the Highlanders' is the 11th in program history and seventh consecutive while Houghton has an all-time record of 5-11-0 in the national tournament.

The 2009 NAIA National Championship Opening Round match will be held at Wildcat Field with a 2 p.m. kickoff next Saturday. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for students. All Indiana Wesleyan students will be admitted free with student ID.

CLICK HERE for NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship bracket