Week 5 sees conference play begin for a number of conferences, and we have been dealt one of the Aussie v Aussie battles of the season first up in the Atlantic 10. Meanwhile, on the west coast, three teams featuring Aussies face high-level West Coast Conference teams as they look to ready themselves for upcoming league play.
Atlantic 10 play kicks off this week and the conference scheduling crew has delivered Australian fans a mouth-watering clash first up as Greta Kraszula’s VCU side takes on Hannah Peric’s Massachusetts. Kraszula has been immovable from the Rams’ lineup recently and helped VCU to a win over previously undefeated Pittsburgh and a draw against #5 ranked Virginia just a week ago. Meanwhile, Peric has quickly reclaimed her spot as an integral member of the Minutewomen lineup since returning to the side a couple of weeks ago and saw 84 minutes of action in a loss to nationally ranked Harvard last week. VCU certainly come into this game as favourites, but regardless of how things play out, the opportunity to watch both Kraszula and Peric on the pitch at the same time is not one to pass up.
Meanwhile, over on the west coast, a matchup between two storied programs and local rivals will also take on an Aussie v Aussie flavour as Stanford head down the road to face Santa Clara. Holly Furphy has been a regular in the lineup for Santa Clara but did not feature last week as the Broncos picked up a solid 4-1 win over Oregon before slipping up against California to fall 1-0 and see their record drop to 2-5. Meanwhile, Stanford look to be moving back towards what is expected from the Cardinal, even in spite of a 1-0 loss on the road at Northwestern last week. That loss saw Stanford drop from #6 to #9 in the national rankings, but they remain an elite team and a dark horse for the national title. Amy Sayer came off the bench in both games last week, but remained a dangerous prospect for defences and hopefully Week 5 sees a return to the lineup for the Matildas midfielder.
The Pac-12 v WCC battles don’t stop there though as Oregon’s Aussie contingent face Portland in a local derby of sorts. Whilst Oregon sit at just 2-2-3 through their first seven games, they have played a tough schedule and faced some issues with player availability at times. Meanwhile, are Portland…back? Perhaps not to the level they were when players like Christine Sinclair and Megan Rapinoe were setting the WCC alight, but a 5-0-3 record for a team that has hit double-digits in the win column just once in the last eight years is a definite sign of improvement at this stage. How much playing time the Aussies receive remains to be seen as Isabel Rolley returned off the bench last week, whilst Lara Kirkby played only brief cameos in each game. Hopefully the Australian pair see plenty of action, but this remains an intriguing game regardless.
Sticking with the theme of opponents from the WCC, Long Beach State will host #9 ranked Pepperdine this week and Aimee Medwin is set to play an integral role if Beach are able to spring the upset against the team from Malibu. Almost ever-present in the Beach lineup, Medwin has played 90 minutes on five of seven occasions this season, and featured for at least 75 minutes in every game. Whilst Long Beach State may only have a 1-3-3 record at this stage, they have played a schedule that will leave them well and truly prepared for the start of Big West play, which kicks off on Sunday against UC Riverside. Facing a Pepperdine side that could easily make a College Cup run will only help ready the side for conference play, and if they can snag a result it would be a massive boon for Beach to round out non-conference action.
Full Schedule
(All Times AEST)
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: v South Carolina State – 9am, Saturday September 17
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: v Ball State – 9am, Friday September 16
Coastal Carolina (Asha McClurg)
This week: v James Madison – 9am, Saturday September 17
Creighton (Renée Pountney)
This week: No games.
Denver (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: @ Colorado – 5am, Sunday September 18
DePaul (Katie Godden)
This week: v Lindenwood – 7am, Friday September 16
Hawai’i (Eliza Ammendolia)
This week: v UC Davis – 3pm, Friday September 16
Kent State (Lua Suero)
This week: No games.
La Salle (Courtney Butlion)
This week: v Saint Louis – 9am, Friday September 16; @ Loyola Chicago – 4am, Monday September 19
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
This week: v Pepperdine – 11am, Friday September 16; v UC Riverside – 11am, Monday September 19
Long Island (Isabella Stein)
This week: v Central Connecticut State – 4am, Friday September 16; v Sacred Heart – 3am, Monday September 19
Louisiana (Emma Bates)
This week: v Old Dominion – 10am, Saturday September 17
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: v Western Kentucky – 10am, Friday September 16; @ UTEP – 5am, Monday September 19
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: @ VCU – 9am, Friday September 16; v Davidson – 3am, Monday September 19
Oral Roberts (Layla Lopez)
This week: v Mid-America Christian – 10am, Friday September 16; @ Tulsa – 10am, Monday September 19
Oregon (Lara Kirkby, Isabel Rolley)
This week: @ Portland – 12pm, Saturday September 17
Rider (Eloise Jones)
This week: @ Canisius – 3am, Sunday September 18
Sam Houston State (Cameron Barreiro)
This week: v Seattle – 9:30am, Saturday September 17; v Utah Valley – 4am, Monday September 19
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: @ Cal State Fullerton – 10am, Sunday September 18
Santa Clara (Holly Furphy)
This week: v Stanford – 12:30pm, Sunday September 19
Seton Hall (Grace Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell)
This week: v Columbia – 8am, Saturday September 16
Siena (Iona Snape)
This week: v Fairfield – 3am, Sunday September 18
Southern Illinois (Chantelle Symes)
This week: v Drake – 4am, Monday September 19
St. Francis Brooklyn (Chloe Walker)
This week: @ Merrimack – 9am, Friday September 16
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: v San Diego – 7am, Friday September 16; @ Santa Clara – 12:30pm, Monday September 19
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: v Houston Baptist – 10am, Saturday September 17; @ Incarnate Word – 4am, Monday September 19
UAB (Abbey Burns)
This week: v Middle Tennessee State – 4am, Monday September 19
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove)
This week: v Towson – 9am, Friday September 16; @ Vermont – 2am, Monday September 19
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
This week: No games.
USC (Talia Grossman)
This week: v UC Irvine – 8am, Friday September 16
UTRGV (Dani Rutstein, Caitlin Webster)
This week: @ Southern Utah – 8am, Saturday September 17; @ Utah Tech – 5am, Monday September 19
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: v Massachusetts – 9am, Friday September 16; @ Rhode Island – 3am, Monday September 19
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