NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's first-year women's soccer team will play Tennessee Wesleyan at 5 p.m. CST Thursday in Hattiesburg, Miss., in the opening round of the NAIA National Championship tournament.
        The NAIA announced Monday the qualifiers and pairings of the 40-team tournament.
        The XULA-TWU winner will play Saturday in the second round against No. 1 overall seed William Carey in Hattiesburg. Carey's Danny Owens Field will be the venue both days.
        The Gold Nuggets (12-5) earned an automatic bid to nationals by winning the Red River Athletic Conference regular-season championship. Tennessee Wesleyan (16-2-1) was the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament runner-up and received the second of that league's two automatic bids.
        RRAC Tournament champion LSU-Alexandria earned the league's other automatic bid. Thirteen teams received at-large bids, but there was none from the RRAC.