(Image Credit: Greg Carroccio/Sideline Photos)
Several teams featuring Aussies are involved in conference tournament play this weekend, with a La Salle’s Claudia Jenkins and Alyssa Van Heurck as well as Western Carolina’s Kate Swartwout the players to watch. Jenkins and Van Heurck will be first up as La Salle host Dayton on Sunday morning in a replay of last week’s thriller to end conference play. The Explorers won that game 3-2 to earn hosting rights in their conference tournament opener, and now face a Flyers side out for revenge in a far more important game. However, with Jenkins in outstanding form between the sticks all season, La Salle have every reason to be confident of securing victory on their home patch.
Western Carolina earned a bye through to the quarter-finals of Southern Conference tournament, but still find themselves on the road in a 4 v 5 matchup at Mercer. These teams faced other just two weeks ago on Kate Swartwout’s Senior Day, with Western Carolina rolling to a 4-1 victory on that occasion. Whilst that may have been a home victory for the Catamounts, it was such a dominant performance that going on the road should not dent their confidence going into this knockout fixture as they look to make a charge at a conference championship.
Dropping their game against UC Santa Barbara last week set Hawaii back in their chase for a regular season conference championship, but the Rainbow Wahine remain well and truly in control of their own fate when it comes to reaching the Big West tournament. Taking on Long Beach State and UC Davis this week, Hawaii will be considered favourites in each of these games, but playing on the road makes things just that little bit more difficult, particularly when every road trip consists of a five-hour flight. A win and a draw in these two games will clinch a conference tournament spot, and with several players in good form, Hawaii have every reason to be confident of picking up those results. Australian freshman Eliza Ammendolia is one of those players in form, with things really starting to click for the midfielder in recent weeks. With Kiri Dale providing outstanding impact off the bench in recent weeks, both Aussies could play integral roles in getting Hawaii over the line and into a first Big West tournament.
Wyoming remain an outside chance of sneaking into the Mountain West Conference tournament, but they’ll need other results to go their way if they are to return to the preseason. However, first and foremost, the Cowgirls will need to pick up victory over their arch-rivals Colorado State in the annual Border War fixture. Fortunately, Indianna Asimus is in excellent form at the moment, scoring in each of Wyoming’s games last weekend. Wyoming are going to need to score goals in this one, and if Asimus continues as she has in recent games, the Cowgirls are a solid chance to do their part on the final weekend. Then, it will just become a case of hoping that San Jose State and Air Force both drop points. It all seems a bit unlikely at this point, but soccer regularly throws up crazy final days like this one could be.
Texas Tech, on the other hand, find themselves in position to potentially secure a Big 12 regular season championship. They will be relying on Baylor taking points from ladder leading Oklahoma State on the final day of the season, but a win over Kansas State will secure a top-two spot regardless of other results. The Texas Tech attack has been in solid form all season, with Demi Koulizakis a large part of that. The senior tallied three shots on target last time out, and if that kind of accuracy and volume continues, it’s only a matter of time before the Sydneysider gets another goal before her college career comes to an end.
Full Schedule
Alabama State (Sophie Bui)
This week: @ Alabama A&M – 7am, Saturday November 2
Chicago State (Sarah Clark)
This week: v Kansas City – 5am, Sunday November 3
Fairleigh Dickinson (Sam Roff)
This week: v Wagner – 10am, Friday November 1; v Mount St. Mary’s – 5am, Monday November 4
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: v Cal State Bakersfield – 1pm, Sunday November 3
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia, Kiri Dale)
This week: @ UC Davis – 8am, Friday November 1; @ Long Beach State – 9am, Monday November 4
Hofstra (Monique Iannella, Grace Watson Carr)
This week: v Northeastern/Elon – 5am, Monday November 4 (CAA Conference Tournament)
La Salle (Claudia Jenkins, Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: v Dayton – 4am, Sunday November 3 (Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament)
LSU (Caitlin Cantrill)
This week: v Kentucky – 10:45am, Friday November 1
Marshall (Laura Farrelly)
This week: v Western Kentucky – 10am, Saturday November 2
Mississippi (Aimee Medwin)
This week: @ Texas A&M – 10:30am, Friday November 1
Nicholls State (Tessa Calabria, Kristy Helmers, Shauni Reid)
This week: v Southeastern Louisiana – 8am, Saturday November 2
North Dakota State (Eden Taylor-Wineera)
This week: v North Dakota – 10am, Friday November 1; @ Denver – 6am, Monday November 4
Old Dominion (Gaby Bentley)
This week: v Charlotte – 10am, Saturday November 2
Stanford (Beattie Goad)
This week: v Arizona State – 11am, Friday November 1; v Arizona – 7am, Monday November 4
Texas Tech (Demi Koulizakis)
This week: v Kansas State – 11am, Friday November 1
UCLA (Rachel Lowe, Teagan Micah)
This week: @ Oregon State – 1pm, Friday November 1; @ Oregon – 8am, Monday November 4
UMBC (Abi Jordan, Teal Kilbride)
This week: @ Binghamton – 10am, Friday November 1
Washington State (Aly Hay)
This week: v Utah – 1pm, Friday November 1; v Colorado – 6am, Monday November 4
Western Carolina (Kate Swartwout)
This week: @ Mercer – 7am, Monday November 4 (Southern Conference Tournament)
Wyoming (Indianna Asimus)
This week: @ Colorado State – 8am, Saturday November 2
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