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FLORENCE, Ala. -- In its first season in the NCAA Division I, the University of North Alabama will have the chance to compete for an ASUN Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday when the Lions face Lipscomb in Nashville at 6 p.m.

North Alabama entered the 2018 ASUN Tournament as the sixth and final seed but knocked off third seeded Kennesaw State 2-1 and second-seeded NJIT 3-0 to advance to the final.

Lipscomb, the top seed in the 2018 field, received a first round bye before defeating four-time defending champion Florida Gulf Coast 1-0 in the other semifinal.

For Lipscomb, it will be the fourth consecutive year that the Bisons have reached the final, but they are 0-3 in the previous trips. All three of those matches were played in Fort Myers, Fla., against FGCU. This year's final marks the first time that Lipscomb has hosted the championship match.

North Alabama brings an 11-8-1 record into the championship match, while Lipscomb is 13-4-2.

North Alabama is 3-1 all-time against Lipscomb but lost to the Bisons 2-0 back on October 19 in Nashville. UNA previously downed Lipscomb 3-2 in Florence in 2000, 3-1 in Nashville in 2001 and 3-1 in Florence in 2006.

North Alabama can win the ASUN championship but the Lions are not eligible to advance to the NCAA Tournament since the Lions are in their first year of a four-year transition into NCAA Division I.

This will be UNA's seventh all-time appearance in a women's soccer conference tournament final.

The Lions are 2-4 in their six previous appearances in the Gulf South Conference Tournament in Division II, winning GSC titles in 2011 and 2015.  

Much of North Alabama's strong play in the ASUN Tournament has been due to having missing parts of its starting lineup back together. Freshman midfielder Kate Wiseman of Andover, England, missed three matches in the heart of the conference schedule when she was called up to play for the England National U19 squad in Croatia in the opening round of UEFA Women's U19 Qualifying Championship. She helped England go 3-0 in the tournament before returning to UNA in time for the team's ASUN match against Jacksonville on October 12.

Senior forward Tay Cavett of Madison, Miss., missed the final two matches of the regular-season, including the match at Lipscomb, due to a concussion.

Junior Shelby Wall of Auburn, Ala., and senior Kylie Huey of Arlington, Tenn., have keyed the offense for most of the season. Wall led the ASUN in assists with 10 and added seven goals. She now has 21 career goals and 21 career assists. Huey has added six goals and six assists and ranks fifth in UNA history with 40 career goals. She has 16 career assists.

Freshman Anna Bove' of Terrassa, Spain has emerged as an offensive threat as well and registered six goals and two assists. She scored two goals and added an assist in the Lions' two ASUN Tournament wins so far.

Senior goalkeeper Shelby Thornton of Amory, Miss., has allowed 62 career goals in 57 matches for one of the best goals-against average in school history at 1.0877 career mark.

Senior Margarida Sousa of Lisbon, Portugal has also been solid for the Lions all season and has started 75 consecutive matches at UNA, or every match since she came to campus in 2015.