More than a few potential Aussie v Aussie battles have fallen by the wayside due to injuries this season, but in Drexel v Hofstra, we have a potentially electrifying battle alongside the presence of Emma Heckenberg for the Dragons and Monique Iannella for the Pride. Both teams went undefeated in their opening weekend of Colonial Athletic Association play, with Hofstra picking up wins over Delaware and UNC Wilmington, whilst Drexel drew 1-1 with Northeastern and knocked off William & Mary by a score of 2-0. Both teams have won six of their first eleven games, and are separated by just 11 spaces in the RPI at this point, meaning we are likely to see a close contest with two Australians at the heart of things, even if Hofstra may still be missing Emily Hulbert this week.
If we turn our heads in a southwesterly direction towards Kentucky, we find Murray State taking on Southeast Missouri State, where there will also be Australians on both sides. Harriet Withers and Nyomi Devine are two of the best players in the entire Ohio Valley Conference, with Devine picking up the conference defensive player of the week last week and Withers recently tying the Murray State career goalscoring record. Whilst Maddy Cornell doesn’t have the same credentials as the Racers’ pair, the Southeast Missouri State senior has forged quite a season to this point, chipping in two goals in the process. Murray State will be heavily favoured going into this one, but the game isn’t played on paper, and the Racers have already had one tough contest in conference play against the otherwise-lowly Morehead State.
Heading even further west, Oregon State v UCLA could also feature Aussies on both sides. Teagan Micah’s exploits for UCLA in her season and a half in Westwood are well known to this point, and the sophomore’s efforts between the sticks this year have helped see the Bruins maintain their grip on the #1 spot in the coaches’ poll for the last few weeks. Freshman Olivia Ellis has been in and out of the Oregon State lineup, not featuring last week, but with the Beavers currently sitting at a mediocre 3-4-2 record, a bit of change may not be the worst thing in the world for the team from Corvallis. However, throwing an experimental lineup at a rampant UCLA side probably isn’t the safest option available.
Finally, it will certainly be fascinating to continue to monitor the progress of Pacific senior Ellie Papalexiou as she continues to make her comeback from an injury suffered last season. Papalexiou made her season debut with a brief spell off the bench last week, but as her fitness improves, her minutes will surely increase as the season progresses and hopefully that will be the case as Pacific take on Gonzaga and Portland this week. Gonzaga sit at a healthy 8-1-1 record and that will no doubt be a tough game, but Portland’s 3-6-1 record is almost identical to Pacific’s 3-6-2 to this point, and the Tigers will surely have their eye on that as a real chance to take the three points.
Full Schedule:
Albany (Claire Urquhart)
This week: v Binghamton – 9am, Friday September 29; at New Hampshire – 5am, Monday October 2
Central Connecticut State (Lauren Featherstone)
This week: at Fairleigh Dickinson – 9am, Saturday September 30; at Mount St. Mary’s – 4am, Monday October 2
Colorado (Isobel Dalton)
This week: at Washington State – 10:30am, Friday September 29; at Washington – 6am, Monday October 2
Drexel (Emma Heckenberg)
This week: at Hofstra – 9am, Friday September 29; v Towson – 5am, Monday October 2
East Tennessee State (Isabel Hodgson)
This week: at UNC Greensboro – 9am, Saturday September 30; at VMI – 5am, Monday October 2
Fairleigh Dickinson (Sam Roff)
This week: v Central Connecticut State – 9am, Saturday September 30
Grambling State (Priya Gakhar)
This week: v Jackson State – 7am, Saturday September 30; v Southern – 5am, Monday October 2
Hawaii (Kiri Dale)
This week: at UC Davis – 7am, Friday September 29; at Long Beach State – 12pm, Monday October 2
Hofstra (Emily Hulbert, Monique Iannella)
This week: v Drexel – 9am, Friday September 29; at William & Mary – 5am, Monday October 2
La Salle (Claudia Jenkins)
This week: v Dayton – 9am, Friday September 29; at Rhode Island – 4am, Monday October 2
LSU (Caitlin Cantrill)
This week: at Kentucky – 9:30am, Saturday September 30
Murray State (Nyomi Devine, Harriet Withers)
This week: v Southeast Missouri State – 6am, Friday September 29; v Tennessee-Martin – 7am, Monday October 2
Nicholls State (Tenille Harberger, Kristy Helmers)
This week: at Houston Baptist – 10am, Saturday September 30; at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 5am, Monday October 2
Old Dominion (Gaby Bentley)
This week: v Texas-San Antonio – 9am, Saturday September 30; at UTEP – 9am, Monday October 2
Oregon State (Olivia Ellis)
This week: at USC – 8:30am, Friday September 29; at UCLA – 7am, Monday October 2
Pacific (Ellie Papalexiou)
This week: v Gonzaga – 12pm, Saturday September 30; v Portland – 7am, Monday October 2
St. Francis (Shelby Milton)
This week: v Sacred Heart – 5am, Saturday September 30; v Bryant – 4am, Monday October 2
Southeast Missouri State (Maddy Cornell)
This week: at Murray State – 6am, Friday September 29
Stanford (Beattie Goad)
This week: v Arizona – 12pm, Friday September 29; v Arizona State – 7am, Monday October 2
Texas Southern (Paige Hayward)
This week: at Alabama State – 10am, Saturday September 30; at Alabama A&M – 5am, Monday October 2
Texas Tech (Demi Koulizakis)
This week: at Texas – 10am, Saturday September 30; v TCU – 5am, Monday October 2
UCLA (Teagan Micah)
This week: v Oregon – 10am, Friday September 29; v Oregon State – 7am, Monday October 2
Western Carolina (Kate Swartwout)
This week: v VMI – 6am, Saturday September 30; at UNC Greensboro – 5am, Monday October 2
William & Mary (Lorena Bugden)
This week: v College of Charleston – 9am, Friday September 29; v Hofstra – 5am, Monday October 2
Wyoming (Alisha Bass, Annika Clayton, Jessie Gentle, Jemma House, Georgia Rowntree)
This week: v Fresno State – 8am, Saturday September 30; v San Jose State – 6am, Monday October 2
