2022 Week 12 Preview

The final week of the regular season. Last chance saloon for those teams not in a position to secure an at-large bid to a national tournament. However, that also brings about the opportunity for a number of teams to secure a conference title, and there are plenty of Aussies with a chance to do that this week.

The Summit League Championship combatants were decided in last week’s semi-final, and Layla Lopez’s Oral Roberts side will have the chance to secure a conference title as they take on Omaha. Both teams sprung upsets in the semi-finals, with Oral Roberts defeating Isabella Chidiac’s Denver side on penalties whilst Omaha handed South Dakota State their first defeat of the season with a smash-and-grab 1-0 victory. Although we haven’t seen much of Layla Lopez of late, one never knows when a player may be called upon, particularly given Oral Roberts already have a pair of overtime games in their legs as well as a penalty shootout in this tournament.

Meanwhile, in the Big East, Renée Pountney and Creighton will be looking to spring an upset of their own as they take on regular season champions Georgetown in the semi-finals. The Bluejays needed penalties to get past Claire Farrington and Butler in the quarter-finals, and things don’t get any easier as they take on a rampant Hoyas side. Moreover, Creighton will have to reverse a 4-0 defeat that Georgetown dished out in the regular season if they are to advance to the championship game. However, we saw in Oral Roberts’ win over Denver in the Summit League that regular season results don’t always mean much in tournaments as they secured revenge for a 5-1 defeat to the Pioneers. Pountney did not feature in the quarter-final win over Butler, but we have seen the former Newcastle Jet make cameo appearances off the bench, and hopefully we see that once again this week.

On the other side of the country, Aimee Medwin and Long Beach State head north to San Luis Obispo to face #1 seed Cal Poly in the Big West semi-finals. It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season for Beach, but an overtime win over UC Santa Barbara in their tournament opener delivered them a matchup with a team that may have won the Big West regular season crown, but one they have had some modicum of success against this season. These two teams have already faced off at Cal Poly once this season, with that game finishing 1-1, so Long Beach State already know that they have what it takes to cause Cal Poly some problems.

Heading to the SWAC, Alabama State finished fourth in the conference and will face Texas Southern in the quarter-finals. These teams played to a 0-0 draw in Houston earlier this season, and this game will be played just up the road at Prairie View A&M’s home venue. On that occasion, Texas Southern outshot Alabama State 23-11 but Hornets goalkeeper Sheila Sanchez stood tall for the Hornets with 15 saves. Grace Norbury played 90 minutes, but Madison Chambers did not feature on that occasion. Since then, Chambers has been a regular impact player off the bench, and hopefully both Aussies can help lead the Hornets to not only a quarter-final win, but a deep tournament run.

Sticking with the Aussies in Alabama, Abbey Burns and UAB are one of two teams giving Australian fans hope in the Conference USA conference tournament, alongside Caitlin Le Roux’s Louisiana Tech outfit. UAB will face UTSA in the opening round, with these teams having drawn 1-1 in their regular season matchup. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech face Florida Atlantic, a team they defeated 2-1 on the road in Boca Raton during the regular season. Both teams will be favoured on neutral ground in Charlotte, but will need to be at their best if they are to advance to the semi-finals and keep their NCAA Tournament dreams alive.

Moving away from conference tournaments to leagues that are decided solely by regular season play, Amy Sayer and Stanford are in the box seat in the Pac-12. Tied with UCLA atop the standings with one game to play, the Cardinal already own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Bruins after their win earlier in the season. Therefore, a win over local rivals California on Saturday will guarantee Stanford the Pac-12 championship. A title would cap a successful couple of weeks for Sayer, who was also called up to the Matildas squad for the upcoming matches against Sweden and Thailand in mid-November.


Meanwhile, Holly Furphy’s Santa Clara side sit four points clear in the West Coast Conference with two games to play. A win in either contest would give the Broncos the championship, and if they could win both it would certainly do their potential NCAA Tournament seeding a world of good as they take on a pair of solid opponents in Gonzaga and Pepperdine. Unfortunately, Furphy will not feature as she continues her recovery from a season-ending leg injury, but a championship is a championship nonetheless.

Full Schedule

(All Times AEDT)

NCAA Division I

Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)

This week: v Texas Southern – 5am, Friday November 4 (SWAC Tournament Quarter-Final)

Creighton (Renée Pountney)

This week: v Georgetown – 9:30am, Friday November 4 (Big East Tournament Semi-Final)

Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)

This week: @ Cal Poly – 1pm, Friday November 4 (Big West Tournament Semi-Final)

Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)

This week: v Florida Atlantic – 7:30am, Thursday November 3 (C-USA Tournament Quarter-Final)

Oral Roberts (Layla Lopez)

This week: v Omaha – 7am, Sunday November 6 (Summit League Championship Game)

Oregon (Lara Kirkby, Isabel Rolley)

This week: v Oregon State – 1pm, Saturday November 5

San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)

This week: v Portland – 1pm, Thursday November 3; v Saint Mary’s – 1pm, Sunday November 6

Santa Clara (Holly Furphy)

This week: v Gonzaga – 1pm, Thursday November 3; @ Pepperdine – 6am, Sunday November 6

Stanford (Amy Sayer)

This week: @ California – 9am, Saturday November 5

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)

This week: v Texas A&M-Commerce – 8am, Thursday November 3 (Southland Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

UAB (Abbey Burns)

This week: v UTSA – 4:30am, Thursday November 3 (C-USA Tournament Quarter-Final)

USC (Talia Grossman)

This week: v UCLA – 8am, Saturday November 5

NCAA Division II

Florida Tech (Ayana Aoyagi)

This week: @ Florida Southern – 10am, Friday November 4. (Sunshine State Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

Franklin Pierce (Brianna Trappett)

This week: v Adelphi – 8:30am, Saturday November 4 (Northeast-10 Tournament Semi-Final)

Gannon (Holly Gray, Paige Taylor)

This week: v Bloomburg – 6am, Saturday November 5 (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

Midwestern State (Laura Elliott)

This week: v West Texas A&M – 11:30am, Saturday November 5 (Lone Star Conference Semi-Final)

Mississippi College (Erin Stamatopoulos)

This week: v West Alabama – 10am, Saturday November 5 (Gulf South Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

Missouri-St Louis (Candice Parziani)

This week: v Illinois-Springfield – 11:30am, Saturday November 5 (Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

Southwestern Oklahoma State (Ashley Hughes)

This week: v Northwestern Oklahoma State – 6:30am, Friday November 4 (Great American Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

West Virginia State (Emma Farrelly)

This week: v Fairmont State – 7am, Saturday November 5 (Mountain East Conference Tournament Semi-Final)

NAIA

Campbellsville (Lauren Woodcock)

This week: v Cumberland – 5am, Saturday November 5 (Mid-South Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Cumberlands (Georgia Martell)

This week: TBA (Mid-South Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Dalton State (Sarah Morris)

This week: @ Middle Georgia State – 8am, Saturday November 5 (Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Jamestown (Gabby Sarkis)

This week: v Doane – 10am, Thursday November 3 (Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Keiser (Georgia Little)

This week: v Warner – 2am, Friday November 4 (The Sun Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

LSU Alexandria (Elena McConnachie)

This week: v Texas A&M-San Antonio – 5am, Sunday November 6 (Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Midland (Gabrielle McAlpine)

This week: v Dordt – 11:30am, Thursday November 3 (Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

Rio Grande (Saskia Vos)

This week: @ Oakland City – 5am, Sunday November 6 (River States Athletic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)

NJCAA Division I

Laramie County (Mattiese Loretan)

This week: v Seminole State – 5am, Sunday November 6 (NJCAA D1 West Plains District Championship)

Monroe College (Erin Keyt)

This week: @ Monroe Community College – 7am, Thursday November 3 (NJCAA D1 Region 15 Semi-Final)

Salt Lake (Isabel Andrews, Amelia Suma)

This week: @ Arizona Western – 12pm, Sunday November 6 (NJCAA D1 West District Championship)

Seminole State (Samantha Bayer, Shivani Battaglia)

This week: @ Laramie County – 5am, Sunday November 6 (NJCAA D1 West Plains District Championship)

NJCAA Division II

Northeast (Chelsea Dolbel, Kailey Lincoln, Mackenzee Stokes)

This week: @ Pratt – 6am, Sunday November 6 (NJCAA D2 Plains District Championship)

About Lachy 436 Articles
Founder of College Matildas. An Australian women's football fan who also happens to be a college sports fan. Often found at A-League Women or NPLW games.

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