The turnaround has been quick, but in the current times, we could all use some entertainment, and here at College Matildas we can think of no better entertainment than watching the Aussies in college soccer. With 33 players on NCAA Division I rosters and a burgeoning freshman class looking to make their debuts, there is plenty to be excited for on the opening weekend. As is tradition for College Matildas, this week’s preview will focus predominantly on those players on an NCAA Division I roster for the first time.
Louisiana has been one of the most popular states for Aussies headed to college over the years, and this season we have three more freshmen adding to the list. Twins Brianna and Siobhan Edwards will hit the road this weekend with Louisiana-Monroe as the Warhawks take on a pair of SWAC opponents. First up, Texas Southern, the college home of recent Adelaide United signing Paige Hayward. Whilst the Tigers aren’t the same team they were when the former College Matildas Player of the Year was leading the line, they could still be a banana-skin, although the Warhawks should be favourites. Louisiana-Monroe round out the weekend by heading east to face Mississippi Valley State, a team that has struggled in the SWAC since 2018, and sat out the Spring 2021 season. A win in this game is a complete non-negotiable for the Warhawks, and hopefully we also see some good performances from the Northern Tigers pair.
Meanwhile, at a school 30 miles directly west of Monroe, Adelaide’s Caitlin Le Roux will be looking to make her debut for Louisiana Tech as they host NCAA Division II side East Texas Baptist before launching into a tricky road trip to Murray State, former home of the only two-time College Matildas Player of the Year, Harriet Withers. Whilst the Lady Techsters will be hoping to ease into things against East Texas Baptist, Murray State are likely to pose a real challenge, but one that will only serve to strengthen their resolve as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, moving east to the fine city of Montgomery, Madison Chambers is in the mix to make her debut for Alabama State as the Hornets head to South Carolina to play Presbyterian for the third time in five years. Having picked up a 6-1 win over the Blue Hose at home in 2017 but suffered a 3-1 defeat on the road in 2018, the Hornets will be hoping to make it two out of three, but there is an Aussie link to this road trip as they also play Winthrop. Midfielder Jai Jackson spent two years with the Eagles, whilst former W-League goalkeeper Dimi Poulos won Big South All-Decade (2000-09) honours for her efforts with the program. Alabama State ran Sun Belt side Troy close in a 3-2 exhibition defeat last week, so hopefully that is a good omen as they look to start competitive play in a positive fashion.
We now turn north on I-85 and head to UNC Asheville, where Jasmine Barry has landed after one season on the roster at NAIA program Rocky Mountain College in Montana. The Bulldogs stay in-state for the first two games of their campaign, with a couple of testing but winnable games against Appalachian State and Western Carolina. Having finished 2-7 last season, UNC Asheville will be hoping to hit the ground running, whilst Barry will be hoping Western Carolina is as favourable a place for Aussies on the opposition as it was for Kate Swartwout, who spent an outstanding four years with the Catamounts.
Through Winston-Salem and Greensboro, and onwards to Richmond, Virginia, where VCU freshman Greta Kraszula rounds out a trio of Northern Tigers alumnae to commence their college careers this weekend. Once again, an Australian link forms as the Rams take on James Madison, whose coach, Josh Walters Sr., was instrumental in recruiting Matildas goalkeeper Teagan Micah to UCLA. Following this game, the team will then head south to take on UNC Wilmington, who are coming off a solid season in the Colonial Athletic Association. We may not be in conference play yet, but Kraszula will no doubt be hoping that she can have the same impact that fellow NPL New South Wales defender Hannah Peric had early in her career with an Atlantic 10 team before the pair face off in league play.
Continuing through the eastern states, we reach Maryland and a UMBC program overflowing with Australians. Head coach Vanessa Mann now has three of her fellow countrywomen on the roster, with Abi Jordan and freshman duo Isobel Davy and Annaliese Grove all looking to make their debuts this weekend. Opening week opponents Robert Morris and Wagner are each coming off poor seasons, but the Retrievers hardly set the world on fire themselves, making for a trio of teams desperate to get their campaigns off to a good start. It could also be the start of something great for a trio of Australians looking to make an impact as quickly as possible, and UMBC are a team in need of something to spark them going forward.
A plane would probably make more sense for a jump from Maryland to Chicago, but we’ll hit the road along I-76, before taking I-80 and arriving at DePaul, where we find former Arsenal Academy and Charlton Athletic forward Katie Godden. Don’t let the accent or the hometown of Surrey on her profile fool you; Godden is Queensland born and raised, and adds to the Big East’s Aussie contingent alongside Creighton duo Ayana Aoyagi and Renée Pountney, and Butler sophomore Claire Farrington. To open her college career, Godden will face Big Ten side Iowa in a solid test to open the campaign. The Hawkeyes finished mid-table in the Big Ten last season, and their RPI sat around the middle of the national rankings, much the same as DePaul themselves. However, if Godden has her shooting boots on, it could be a very handy early win for the Blue Demons.
Speaking of Iowa, that is the state we will travel through as we head to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where former junior college standout Ayana Aoyagi has become the third Aussie to play for the Bluejays in recent years, following Anastasia Price (née McCleary) and current teammate Renée Pountney. Aoyagi’s college career will begin with a home game against Montana, a team to be disregarded at one’s peril. Montana may not be thought of as a soccer hotbed, nor is the Big Sky considered a power conference by any stretch, but the Grizzlies rode roughshod over the league last season on their way to an NCAA Tournament berth, and only fell 1-0 to a heavily favoured South Carolina side. The Bluejays wrap up the week by hosting former conference rivals Drake. With Creighton having left the Missouri Valley Conference for the Big East in 2013, there is no love lost between these two teams and it could be an unexpectedly fun matchup this early in the season.
What’s that old saying? West Coast, Best Coast? Lara Kirkby will certainly hope that is the case as we head west (stopping in at Born in a Barn in Laramie, Wyoming for some wings on the way) to the University of Oregon, where the former Adelaide United midfielder has joined assistant coach and College Matildas legend Rachael Doyle at the Ducks. A program on the rise, Oregon will begin their campaign for their first 10-win season since 2006 by hosting Fresno State before making a road trip to face Ashley Jordan and San Francisco. Both of these games appear eminently winnable for the Ducks, but they will have to hit midseason form early if they are to avoid any potential slip-ups. Hopefully, by the end of this pair of games we will have seen both Kirkby and Jordan make their collegiate debuts.
Of course, the first-timers aren’t the only ones playing this week. Indianna Asimus could make her debut for Illinois State following her transfer from Wyoming, whilst Molly Arens could make her first appearance for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after sitting out the Spring 2021 campaign. Meanwhile, Amy Sayer and Stanford look to put their disastrous spring season behind them and attempt to get back to championship-winning ways in the Pac-12 and nationally. With 33 Aussies on rosters this season though, there is bound to be action any way you look.
Full Schedule
(All Times AEST)
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: @ Winthrop – 10am, Saturday August 21; @ Presbyterian – 4am, Monday August 23
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: v Michigan – 9am, Friday August 20
Creighton (Ayana Aoyagi, Renee Pountney)
This week: v Montana – 10am, Friday August 20; v Drake – 4am, Monday August 23
DePaul (Katie Godden)
This week: v Iowa – 7am, Friday August 20
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
This week: @ Ole Miss – 9am, Friday August 20
Eastern Illinois (Ashleigh Harvie)
This week: v Indiana State – 7am, Friday August 20; v Illinois-Springfield – 4am, Monday August 23
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: v Southeastern Louisiana – 12pm, Friday August 20; v Central Arkansas – 4am, Monday August 23
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia)
This week: v Hawaii Pacific – 11am, Monday August 23 (Exhibition)
Hofstra (Grace Watson Carr)
This week: v Stony Brook – 9am, Friday August 20; @ Albany – 4am, Monday August 23
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
This week: @ Missouri – 10am, Friday August 20; @ Illinois State – 9am, Monday August 23
Illinois State (Indianna Asimus)
This week: @ Eastern Michigan – 5am, Friday August 20; v Illinois – 9am, Monday August 23
Incarnate Word (Madison McComasky)
This week: v Texas State – 10:30am, Saturday August 21
La Salle (Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: @ Penn State – 7am, Monday August 23
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
This week: @ CSU Northridge – 12pm, Friday August 20
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: v East Texas Baptist – 10am, Saturday August 21; @ Murray State – 4am, Monday August 23
Louisiana-Monroe (Brianna Edwards, Siobhan Edwards)
This week: @ Texas Southern – 10am, Friday August 20; @ Mississippi Valley State – 4am, Monday August 23
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: @ Penn State – 9am, Friday August 20; @ Boston College – 3am, Monday August 23
Oregon (Lara Kirkby)
This week: v Fresno State – 12pm, Friday August 20; @ San Francisco – 6am, Monday August 23
Rhode Island (Teresa Morrissey)
This week: v Providence – 9am, Friday August 20; v Maine – 3am, Monday August 23
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: @ Sonoma State – 8am, Friday August 20; v Oregon – 6am, Monday August 23
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: @ Cal Poly – 12pm, Friday August 20
Tennessee-Martin (Kiarnie Latham)
This week: v Southern Illinois – 10am, Friday August 20; @ Little Rock – 4am, Monday August 23
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: v Texas A&M-International – 10am, Friday August 20 (Exhibition); v Texas Southern – 4am, Monday August 23
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove, Abi Jordan)
This week: v Robert Morris – 9am, Friday August 20; @ Wagner – 3am, Monday August 23
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
This week: @ Appalachian State – 8am, Friday August 20; @ Western Carolina – 9am, Monday August 23
USC (Talia Grossman)
This week: v Pepperdine – 8am, Friday August 20
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: v James Madison – 9am, Friday August 20; @ UNC Wilmington – 3am, Monday August 23
Washington State (Aly Hay)
This week: v Arkansas State – 12pm, Friday August 20
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