2023 Postseason Week 2 Preview

The NCAA Division II and NAIA Tournaments kick off this week, adding another 12 schools featuring Australians to the list of teams to play in national postseason tournaments. The two NCAA Division I teams come in as the lower seed in each of their second round games, but are certainly in with a chance.

NCAA Division I Tournament

Santa Clara (Holly Furphy)

Second Round: @ Penn State – 10:00AM, Saturday November 18

As a #7 seed taking on a #2 seed, Santa Clara are on the road as underdogs in their second-round game against Penn State. The Nittany Lions certainly had the easier game in the opener last weekend, demolishing Central Connecticut State 7-0. However, Santa Clara comfortably defeated Arizona State, waltzing to a 3-0 victory. Penn State did also lose two of their last three conference games, so it hasn’t been all plain sailing in recent times, but the Broncos will not be able to rely on their opponents falling back into that patchy form given the first-round confidence boosting win. However, this Santa Clara side is better than their record suggests, and this should be a highly entertaining match. Holly Furphy featured off the bench in Santa Clara’s opening round game, and hopefully we see the Victorian see meaningful minutes once again in this one.

Should Santa Clara get the win, a matchup with either Saint Louis or Georgetown looms in the Sweet Sixteen after each of those seeded teams won their first-round contests.

USC (Talia Grossman)

Second Round: @ BYU – 1:00PM, Friday November 17

USC edged past Grand Canyon in their opening round game, and things aren’t about to get any easier as they take on #1 seed and #2 RPI ranked BYU in the second round. Not only will the Women of Troy have to contend with an elite team, there is also the elevation to contend with, as BYU’s campus sits at an elevation in excess of 1,300 metres. However, if USC can find their form of earlier in the season and put their recent stretch of just two wins in seven games behind them, it will go a long way to helping them to a result. Whilst it will no doubt be a tough contest, there will surely be motivation for USC to go deep into the tournament particularly after last season’s unexpected first round exit.

If the Women of Troy can get over the line against the Cougars, they will face either #5 seed Michigan State or #4 seed Harvard, who knocked out Lara Kirkby and Maine in the opening round.

NCAA Division II Tournament

Catawba (Ashley Hughes)

First Round: v UNC Pembroke – 10:00AM, Friday November 17

Charleston (Kate Duffy)

Second Round: v Gannon or Mercyhurst – 5:00AM, Monday November 20

Concord (Caitlin Webster)

First Round: @ Kutztown – 10:00AM, Saturday November 18

Florida Tech (Ayana Aoyagi, Eve Tiktikakis)

First Round: v Rollins – 5:00AM, Saturday November 18

Gannon (Holly Gray, Paige Taylor)

First Round: v Mercyhurst – 5:00AM, Saturday November 18

Jefferson (Olivia Riddel)

First Round: v Molloy – 2:00AM, Saturday November 18

Southern New Hampshire (Imogen Noon, Dakota Thyssen)

First Round: @ Roberts Wesleyan – 5:00AM, Saturday November 18

NAIA Tournament

Cumberlands (KY) (Georgia Martell)

Second Round: v Northwestern Ohio or Georgia Gwinnett – 9:00AM, Sunday November 19

Georgia Gwinnett (D’arne Boato)

First Round: v Northwestern Ohio – 7:00AM, Friday November 17

Keiser (FL) (Zara Board, Georgia Little)

First Round: @ College of Idaho – 7:00AM, Friday November 17

Midland (NE) (Gabrielle McAlpine)

First Round: v UC Merced – 6:00AM, Friday November 17

Xavier (LA) (Amelia Suma)

First Round: v Tennessee Wesleyan – Time TBD, Friday November 17

NJCAA Division I Tournament

Arizona Western (Riley McQueenie)

Semi-Final: v Eastern Florida State – 5:30AM, Friday November 17

NJCAA Division II Tournament

Johnson County (Montana-Rose Currey, Sophia Abbott)

Semi-Final: v Phoenix – 4:00AM, Friday November 17

About Lachy 429 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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