As usual, conference championship week brought plenty of excitement, and once all was said and done, two Aussies collected silverware and earned an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament in the process. Perhaps the best story of the week was Sandra Hill and Grand Canyon earning the first NCAA Division I Tournament bid in program history with a dominant victory over Utah Valley in the final. Having defeated the Wolverines 6-2 on the final day of the regular season to secure a regular season divisional title, Grand Canyon delivered a crushing 3-0 win in the championship game. Hill performed a 9-minute cameo off the bench, setting up the initial goal with a pass to Dani Babb, whose initial shot was parried into the path of eventual goalscorer Lindsey Prokop.
Grace Watson-Carr and Hofstra also secured a conference championship with a 2-1 win over Northeastern. The Pride had stumbled in the back end of the regular season, but regained their momentum to grab their fourth CAA title in the last five seasons and return to the NCAA Tournament. Watson-Carr was an unused substitute, as starter Skylar Kuzmich remains immovable between the sticks for Hofstra.
Meanwhile, in the Southland Conference, Madison McComasky came agonisingly close to helping lead Incarnate Word to their first NCAA Division I Tournament berth as the Cardinals fell 1-0 to Northwestern State in the championship game. One of the first names on the team sheet, the senior played 69 minutes in the quarter-final win over Houston Baptist and the full 90 minutes in the semi-final victory over McNeese State. This was followed up by another 70-minute outing in the championship game as the Cardinals gave the Demons everything they could handle. Unfortunately, though, Northwestern State could handle everything thrown at them, and it was the team from Louisiana that tallied the only goal just after the hour mark. The 1-0 loss ended what has been an outstanding season, not only for McComasky, but Incarnate Word in general as they finished 3rd in the Southland regular season standings prior to their run to the title game.
The only goal from an Aussie this week came from Alabama State midfielder Grace Norbury, who finally reaped a tangible reward for her efforts this season, netting her first of the season in the SWAC quarter-final win over Texas Southern. A tangle between Alabama State forward Kassandra Schoen, the Texas Southern goalkeeper, and a defender on the edge of the box saw Schoen the first to recover and find Norbury with a pass, with the Victorian chipping over the out-of-position goalkeeper into an empty net for a. delightful opening goal. Two more goals for the Hornets combined with a crucial penalty save saw the Hornets finish with a 3-0 win and move onto the semi-finals. Unfortunately, that would be their final win of the season, as eventual champions Prairie View A&M delivered a 3-0 result of their own in the semi-final.
We now await the NCAA Division I Tournament Selection Show, which will take place at 8:30am on Tuesday, November 9. Hofstra and Grand Canyon have secured auto-bids, whilst USC and Stanford look set to be named in the field of 64. However, Butler, Oregon, and VCU will have to wait patiently as they sit perched precariously on the bubble at this stage.
Complete Results
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: defeated Texas Southern 3-0 (SWAC Tournament Quarter-Final); lost to Prairie View A&M 3-0 (SWAC Tournament Semi-Final)
Grace Norbury started both games for Alabama State at the SWAC Tournament, tallying the opener in a 75-minute performance in the win over Texas Southern, before playing 66 minutes in the semi-final loss to Prairie View A&M. Madison Chambers remains out through injury and did not feature this week.
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: lost to Georgetown 2-1 (Big East Tournament Semi-Final)
Claire Farrington came off the bench for a brief five-minute cameo in Butler’s loss to Georgetown.
Creighton (Ayana Aoyagi, Renée Pountney)
No games this week.
DePaul (Katie Godden)
No games this week.
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
No games this week.
Eastern Illinois (Ashleigh Harvie)
No games this week.
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: defeated Lamar 2-1 (WAC Tournament Semi-Final); defeated Utah Valley 3-0 (WAC Championship)
Sandra Hill did not feature for Grand Canyon in their win over Lamar, but came off the bench in their championship game victory over Utah Valley, playing 9 minutes.
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia)
No games this week.
Hofstra (Grace Watson-Carr)
This week: defeated James Madison 1-0 (CAA Tournament Semi-Final); defeated Northeastern 2-1 (CAA Championship)
Grace Watson-Carr did not feature for Hofstra in either game of their run to the CAA title.
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
No games this week.
Illinois State (Indianna Asimus)
No games this week.
Incarnate Word (Madison McComasky)
This week: defeated Houston Baptist 4-0 (Southland Conference Tournament Quarter-Final); defeated McNeese State 1-0 (Southland Conference Tournament Semi-Final); lost to Northwestern State 1-0 (Southland Conference Championship)
Madison McComasky started all three games for Incarnate Word in their run to the Southland Conference title game. The senior played 69 minutes in the win over Houston Baptist, the full 90 minutes in the semi-final win over McNeese State, and 70 minutes in the championship loss to Northwestern State.
La Salle (Alyssa Van Heurck)
No games this week.
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
No games this week.
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
No games this week.
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: defeated Saint Joseph’s 2-0 (Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Semi-Final); lost to Saint Louis 4-1 (Atlantic 10 Conference Championship)
Hannah Peric remains out through injury and did not feature for Massachusetts in their run to the Atlantic 10 title game.
Oregon (Lara Kirkby)
This week: drew with Oregon State 2-2
Lara Kirkby did not feature for Oregon in their draw with rivals Oregon State.
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: lost to Gonzaga 2-0; defeated San Diego 3-0
Ashley Jordan came off the bench for San Francisco in both games this week, playing eight minutes on each occasion.
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: defeated California 3-1
Amy Sayer came off the bench for Stanford in their win over California, registering a shot on target in her 23 minutes on the pitch.
Tennessee-Martin (Kiarnie Latham)
This week: defeated Tennessee Tech 1-0 (OVC Tournament Semi-Final); lost to SIU Edwardsville 1-0 (OT) (OVC Championship)
Kiarnie Latham did not feature for Tennessee-Martin in either game of the Skyhawks’ run to the OVC title game.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: lost to Southeastern Louisiana 1-0 (Southland Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Molly Arens played the full 90 minutes for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their loss to Southeastern Louisiana, registering two shots with one on target.
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove, Abi Jordan)
No games this week.
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
No games this week.
USC (Talia Grossman, Isabel Rolley)
This week: lost to UCLA 3-1
Neither Talia Grossman nor Isabel Rolley featured in USC’s final day Pac-12 loss to UCLA.
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
No games this week.
Leave a Reply