Big West league play kicks off this week, and with it comes what could potentially be the best Aussie v Aussie game of the season as Eliza Ammendolia’s Hawaii take on Aimee Medwin and Long Beach State. Hawaii played a tough non-conference schedule, but even so, will be frustrated with their inability to secure a win prior to league play as they look to return to the conference tournament following their exploits in 2019. Meanwhile, Long Beach State have stumbled slightly since their famous win over Pepperdine a few weeks ago, with just one win and one draw in the six games since. However, conference play is the most important part of the season for both teams, and their performances in these early fixtures could shape the entirety of their campaign. Expect both Ammendolia and Medwin to be heavily involved in what could turn out to be a barnburner on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, further north in California, Amy Sayer will be looking to score her third goal in as many games as Stanford host Utah in their opening conference game. Having not scored a goal in her opening college season, Sayer has now scored two on the trot, including the game-winner against defending national champions Santa Clara. Having been picked third in the Pac-12 preseason poll with two first-place votes, Stanford will be expected to get the better of a Utah team that was picked to finish 11th, but there are no easy games in the Pac-12; even Oregon State, who were picked to finish bottom of the league, are currently eighth in the national RPI rankings.
Staying in the Pac-12, USC and their Aussie duo of Isabel Rolley and Talia Grossman also picked up first-place votes in the conference preseason poll and will look to get conference play off to a flyer against Oregon State, who as previously mentioned are tabbed to finish bottom of the league. However, the Beavers have started the season on a tear at 8-0 and will take plenty of confidence into this game. Regardless, like Stanford, USC will come into this game as favourites but will need to be at their best to ensure victory. Most intriguingly for Aussie fans, Isabel Rolley’s minutes have spiked in recent times, and hopefully that trend will continue going forward.
Moving cross-country to North Carolina, Jasmine Barry has been ever-present in the starting lineup for UNC Asheville this season, and this weekend looks to help lead the Bulldogs to a first conference victory of the campaign on the road at Hampton. Like UNC Asheville, Hampton are also looking for a first win in Big South play as both teams look to shake off disappointing non-conference records that saw both teams win just a game each. However, Barry and her teammates will see this as an eminently winnable game that could help springboard their conference campaign as they look to improve on a lean stretch that has seen the program win fewer than five games in each of the last three seasons.
Conversely, Alabama State have been one of the stronger SWAC programs over the last few seasons and will look to continue that dominance as they head to Mississippi to face Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State. Whilst Madison Chambers is out for the time being, Grace Norbury remains integral to the Hornets’ lineup as they look to build on a non-conference schedule that may have been short on results but featured a number of solid performances, particularly in their draw with UAB just a couple of weeks ago. The Hornets’ two opponents this week are considered two of the weaker sides in the SWAC, with Mississippi Valley State suffering from player shortages at times this season. Nonetheless, the Hornets will be wary of letting this games become trip hazards; after all, just two weeks ago they lost the shot count to UAB 39-8 and came away with a draw, and would have no interest in being on the other end of that kind of result.
Full Schedule
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: @ Alcorn State – 7am, Saturday September 25; @ Mississippi Valley State – 4am, Monday September 27
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: @ Marquette – 9am, Friday September 24; v Seton Hall – 2am, Monday September 27
Creighton (Ayana Aoyagi, Renée Pountney)
This week: v Georgetown – 10am, Friday September 24; @ Providence – 2am, Monday September 27
DePaul (Katie Godden)
This week: @ St. John’s – 3am, Monday September 27
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
This week: v Citadel – 9am, Saturday September 25; v Mercer – 8am, Monday September 27
Eastern Illinois (Ashleigh Harvie)
This week: v Morehead State – 4am, Monday September 27
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: @ Utah Valley – 3am, Friday September 24; @ Dixie State – 11:30am, Sunday September 26
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia)
This week: v Cal State Northridge – 3pm, Friday September 24; @ Long Beach State – 11am, Monday September 27
Hofstra (Grace Watson-Carr)
This week: v Towson – 3am, Monday September 27
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
This week: v Purdue – 10am, Friday September 24; @ Indiana – 3am, Monday September 27
Illinois State (Indianna Asimus)
This week: v Southern Illinois – 9am, Sunday September 26
Incarnate Word (Madison McComasky)
This week: v Nicholls State – 8am, Saturday September 25; v Southeastern Louisiana – 4am, Monday September 27
La Salle (Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: @ Dayton – 9am, Friday September 24; @ Saint Louis – 4am, Monday September 27
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
This week: v UC San Diego – 11am, Friday September 24; v Hawaii – 11am, Monday September 27
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: @ Rice – 8am, Saturday September 25
Louisiana-Monroe (Brianna Edwards, Siobhan Edwards)
This week: @ Georgia State – 9am, Friday September 24; @ Coastal Carolina – 2am, Monday September 27
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: v George Mason – 5am, Friday September 24; v Rhode Island – 3am, Monday September 27
Oregon (Lara Kirkby)
This week: @ UCLA – 12pm, Saturday September 25
Rhode Island (Teresa Morrissey)
This week: v George Washington – 5am, Friday September 24; @ Massachusetts – 3am, Monday September 27
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: v Santa Clara – 12pm, Sunday September 26
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: v Utah – 11am, Saturday September 25
Tennessee-Martin (Kiarnie Latham)
This week: @ Austin Peay – 4am, Monday September 27
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: v Southeastern Louisiana – 10am, Saturday September 25; v Nicholls State – 4am, Monday September 27
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove, Abi Jordan)
This week: v Hartford – 4am, Monday September 27
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
This week: @ Hampton – 9am, Sunday September 26
USC (Talia Grossman, Isabel Rolley)
This week: v Oregon State – 9am, Saturday September 25
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: @ St. Bonaventure – 9am, Friday September 24; @ George Mason – 3am, Monday September 27
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