As with a lot of sports, defenders don’t always rack up the gaudy stats of the attacking players, but that doesn’t mean this group of NCAA Division I Australians aren’t making significant contributions for their team. Hannah Peric will captain Massachusetts in 2024, whilst players such as Annie Grove and Jasmine Barry are among the first names on the team sheet for their respective lineups. At the other end of the scale, Erin Gordon and Zoe Karipidis join Harvard and Purdue respectively as two of the most exciting freshmen to watch this season.
Yazmin Baird-Watson (Junior, Southern, Mullumbimby)
Following two seasons at junior college level, Yazmin Baird-Watson makes the move to NCAA Division I level, becoming the first Australian at Southern University since Simone Arthur and the fourth Australian in the SWAC this season alongside Alabama State duo Grace Norbury and Madison Chambers, and Mississippi Valley State forward Jacquelline Kambere. A regular starter for Coffeyville Community College in 2023, Baird-Watson featured in 18 of the Ravens’ 19 games, being named in the starting eleven on 14 occasions. Listed as a defender and midfielder on the Southern roster, versatility is never a bad thing to have up one’s sleeve, and could be just the trick to help Baird-Watson slot into the lineup as Southern look to go a couple of steps further than last season’s SWAC tournament semi-final defeat to Jackson State.
Tabbed to finish third in the SWAC once again this season, Southern did pick up four of eighteen first-place votes in the conference’s preseason poll. However, although Grambling State and Jackson State look as though they may be separating themselves from the pack, Southern had the second-best defence in the conference in 2023, allowing them to pick up five wins and three draws in nine league games despite scoring only 10 goals.
Jasmine Barry (Grad, UNC Asheville, Brisbane)
One of the first names on the team sheet for UNC Asheville at this stage, Jasmine Barry will be one of two Australians at the Bulldogs for 2024, alongside freshman midfielder Mercedes McNabb. A starter from the time she transferred from Rocky Mountain College in 2022, Barry has been part of the matchday eleven in 40 of her 51 appearances, and has more recently added some attacking potency to her arsenal. Each of Barry’s three career assists came in 2023, whilst the Queenslander also tallied the first three shots of her college career, with two of those being on target.
UNC Asheville posted a 7-6-4 record in 2023, their first .500 or better season since 2015’s 11-9 record. The Bulldogs will be determined to ensure that that season is not an anomaly, particularly having dropped from six wins to four between 2021 and 2022. However, the most pressing need appears to be improving on last season’s 2-5-1 record in conference play. The Big South only sends four teams to the conference tournament, so it will take a sizeable improvement if they are to qualify in 2024, but the Bulldogs do appear to be on an upward trajectory.
Sophie Cook (Freshman, Saint Peter’s, Newcastle)
The newest Australian addition to the Saint Peter’s program alongside sophomore Wilma Thodhlana and coach Julia Bazi, Sophie Cook joins Saint Peter’s after coming through the Central Coast Mariners Academy before spending time in NPLW Northern NSW with Adamstown Rosebud in 2024. An ever-present member of the Mariners’ Under 20s side in 2023, Cook slotted straight into the starting lineup at Adamstown, and will now look to do the same at Saint Peter’s at a time when the program is in severe need of defensive reinforcement.
The Peacocks only scored 1.07 goals per game in 2023, but that paled in comparison to the 3.2 that they conceded to sit in the bottom 40 teams in the nation. Despite that number, they still managed to secure four victories, but rapid improvement at the back will be paramount to any success in 2024. With Cook but one of a number of freshmen who can slot into the defence, hopefully the new recruits can provide reinforcement despite their lack of college experience and shore things up at the back.
Teagan Douglas (Sophomore, Bellarmine, Maitland)
Junior Matildas representative Teagan Douglas joined Bellarmine in 2023 and made an immediate impact, starting all 18 games and becoming a crucial part of the Knights’ defence. Not only did Douglas feature in every match, she played the full 90 minutes on six occasions to average 79 minutes per game. Douglas also tallied her first assist against Stetson in the penultimate game of the season, a campaign in which a team still finding its feet at NCAA Division I level finished 4-9-5 and 1-7-3 in conference play. More recently, Douglas has spent her offseason playing for Central Coast Mariners in Football NSW League One Women’s, starting in eight games and notching a goal in a 1-0 win over Nepean FC in May.
Now in their first season of postseason eligibility after reclassifying from NCAA Division II, Bellarmine return plenty of experience in defence, which will stand them in good stead as they look to improve upon last year’s numbers. The Knights were second-bottom in terms of goals conceded, leaking 16 in eleven ASUN conference games, but that year of experience will have done Douglas and her fellow defenders the world of good as they look to shore up the defensive end in 2024. Improvement at the attacking end would also be desirable for a team that only scored nine goals in league play, but Douglas’ first assignment will be to help lead the defensive improvement.
Erin Gordon (Freshman, Harvard, Sydney)
A Junior Matildas and Australian Schoolgirls representative, former Football NSW Institute and Macarthur Rams defender Erin Gordon’s next stop will be one of the world’s most prestigious universities as the Sydneysider commences her college career at Harvard. Although the Ivy League may not be a heavy hitter in the more well-known college sports such as football and men’s basketball, women’s soccer is a different story. Gordon will be joining a team that is not only an academic powerhouse but a regular threat to pick up an NCAA Tournament win, having reached the second round in each of the last two seasons.
Gordon joins Harvard at a promising time for the Crimson following last season’s successes. Although they finished five points behind Brown in the Ivy League regular season standards, they secured the conference championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Following a 3-0 win over Lara Kirkby’s Maine side, Harvard fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat despite outshooting Michigan State 21-11, falling on a 50th minute penalty. Of course, there will be a number of high-performing seniors to replace in 2024, but programs like Harvard don’t rebuild, they reload, and that is where Gordon enters the conversation. If anything, Gordon could yet be a part of a defence that goes to a higher level in 2024. In fairness, conceding only 1.05 goals per game in 2023 was a solid number, good enough for 108th in the nation. However, when the attack is putting up 2.53 goals per game to sit 12th nationwide, the defensive corps will no doubt be pushing themselves to set the same standard going forward.
Annaliese Grove (Senior, UMBC, Canberra)
A fixture at fullback for UMBC for the vast majority of her college career, little looks set to change as Annie Grove enters her senior season for the Retrievers. The last remaining Australian player on the roster from the Vanessa Mann era, Grove has started in 34 of her 38 appearances for the Retrievers, maintaining her spot as a vital member of the lineup throughout her time with the program.
The Retrievers may have finished 3-11-4 and winless in conference play in 2023, but they can take heart from certain performances, not least a 2-2 draw away at eventual conference champions Maine, a game in which they led 2-0 before fellow Australian, Lara Kirkby helped lead the Black Bears’ comeback. The main task now will be to ensure performances of that calibre become the norm, rather than the exception, which would certainly go a long way to seeing the Retrievers’ record improve markedly.
Eloise Jones (Junior, Rider, Sydney)
It has been an interrupted first two seasons for Eloise Jones at Rider, missing her entire freshman season and being limited to only three appearances in her sophomore year in 2023. However, 2024 will hopefully see the Central Coast Mariners Academy product able to showcase her talents more often as Rider look to make the leap from hovering around the .500 mark into double-digit wins, a mark they have not reached since 2015.
Although the Broncs finished just below .500 in both conference play and overall last season, their defence was reasonably solid and a fully fit Jones will only serve to help improve that further. However, they scored only 0.83 goals per game last season, with none of their attacking numbers jumping off the page. The defence certainly has things pretty well locked down at one end of the pitch, and if they can turn things around at the attacking end, an improved finish in the MAAC is not out of the question in 2024.
Zoe Karipidis (Freshman, Purdue, Newcastle)
A regular member of the Newcastle Jets matchday squad in the most recent A-League Women’s season, Zoe Karipidis is the only member of this year’s Australian freshman class with playing experience at the highest level of Australian club football. The Young Matildas representative made 14 appearances for the Jets team that reached the A-League Women semi-finals in 2023/24, playing almost 1000 minutes and scoring a goal in the 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix in February. Of those 14 appearances, 11 were starts as the defender repaid Newcastle’s coaching brass’ faith in spades throughout the campaign.
Karipidis now joins a Purdue side that finds itself languishing near the bottom of the Big Ten at a time when things are only about to get a whole lot tougher as UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington join from the Pac-12. The Boilermakers finished winless in conference play in 2023, managing just two draws in ten league games as they scored just three goals against Big Ten opponents whilst conceding 16. Under new coach Richard Moodie, Purdue will be looking to turn around both of those numbers, but Karipidis’ main focus will be on the defensive end. Interestingly, the Boilermakers face all four of the Big Ten’s new additions, which will give them an early sign into how life may be in the new-look conference.
Caitlin Le Roux (Senior, Northwestern State, Adelaide)
A regular inclusion for Louisiana Tech before her transfer to Northwestern State, Caitlin Le Roux started 14 of her 16 appearances for the Demons in 2023, and little looks set to change in 2024 as the South Australian enters her senior season. Now with 37 college appearances and a goal under her belt after notching her first in 2023, Le Roux enters this season as a crucial part of a team that underwent somewhat of a transition last season but will be looking to return to the regular standard of double-digit win seasons in 2024.
Regularly at the top of the Southland standings, Northwestern State slipped to a 6-win season in 2023, finishing 4-5-1 in conference play and falling on penalties in the opening round of the conference tournament. However, the Demons played a far tougher non-conference schedule than most teams at their level, and will once again test themselves against a number of power conference teams early in the season. Wins in those games will be a confidence booster, but the Demons know that conference success is their only true path to the NCAA Tournament.
Montanna Mathews (Freshman, Incarnate Word, Albury)
A former train-on player for Western United, Montanna Mathews has been a major part of Calder United’s successes in NPLW Victoria in recent years and will look to continue that trend as she heads to Incarnate Word. With over 40 appearances and a premiership-championship double under her belt over the last couple of seasons, Mathews commences her college career with plenty of experience already under her belt as the Cardinals look to qualify for the Southland Conference tournament for the first time since 2021.
Incarnate Word finished with six wins in 2023, but even that was double the number that they posted in 2022, so things may be looking up in San Antonio. The Cardinals may have lost a number of starting defensive players from their 2023 lineup that conceded just 0.75 goals per game to sit in the top 40 in the nation, but that just provides opportunities for players like Mathews to come in and keep things rolling at the defensive end. If they can maintain the same level in defence, even a slight increase in attacking output could see the Cardinals make a rise up the table.
Hannah Peric (Grad, Massachusetts, Sydney)
Hannah Peric has long been an integral part of Massachusetts’ defensive setup, so it was hardly surprising to see the Manly United product named as one of the Minutewomen’s captains for 2024. Although her college career has been interrupted at time by injuries, Peric has developed into a mainstay of the Minutewomen’s lineup, starting in all 18 games last season and averaging in excess of 85 minutes per contest. Peric also scored the second game-winning goal of her career in 2023, tallying the opener in a 5-0 win over Davidson as her towering presence in the box remains an unsolvable problem for opponents at both ends.
Massachusetts finished 2023 with a solid 6-2-2 record in the Atlantic 10, good enough for 4th place in the league. Unfortunately, that sent them into the dreaded 4 v 5 matchup in the quarter-finals, in which they fell to a 2-1 loss to a Duquesne team that they had drawn 1-1 with on the road earlier in the season. Although the Minutewomen conceded nine goals in conference play last season, six of those came in a loss to Saint Louis, a team that rolled through the league. Throughout the rest of the campaign, Peric and the rest of the defence had things fairly well locked down, and that will most likely be the basis for any success that the team has this season. Having said this, a couple more set-piece headers from Peric would be a nice bonus both for the team and for Australian viewers.
Kate Ryan (Sophomore, Dartmouth, Dallas)
Having made only a single appearance in non-conference play against Iona in 2023, Kate Ryan enters the 2024 season hoping to significantly build upon that number. One of seven defenders on the roster, there has been little turnover in the position group at Dartmouth, but one regular starter from 2023 has completed her collegiate career, meaning there will be new opportunities in 2024.
There is also a standard that will demand to be maintained after Dartmouth conceded just 0.867 goals per game in 2023. In a season which saw the Big Green’s goalscoring numbers sit in the bottom 100 of the nation at just over a single goal per game, that stingy defence allowed them to finish with a respectable 7-3-5 record, with their only three losses coming to Brown, Princeton, and Harvard, who finished as the top three teams in the Ivy League. However, turning those five draws into wins this season will be imperative if they are to move up the table. Interestingly, all seven of Dartmouth’s wins were shutouts, but all five of those draws came in games in which they conceded, with no scoreless draws among the set.
Natasha Tanner (Sophomore, Morehead State, Perth)
A starter in two of her nine appearances during her freshman campaign, Natasha Tanner returns to Morehead State in 2024 looking to increase both those numbers after some solid outings in 2023. Already with an Ohio Valley Conference championship under her belt after the Eagles knocked off #1 seed Tennessee Tech in the title game in 2023, the defender has already shown that she can provide valuable minutes. On a roster with ten defenders but four freshmen in that list, Tanner can hopefully parlay that experience into more playing time in 2024 after seeing 354 minutes of action in her first season with the Eagles.
There is not far to go for Morehead State in terms of their position in the Ohio Valley Conference after finishing second in the regular season and winning the conference tournament in 2023. However, as the old saying goes, if you’re standing still, you’re going backwards, and the Eagles will be champing at the bit to make that final step and secure the double in 2024. Tanner, in particular, will be tasked with ensuring that the defence maintains its status as the best in the league after conceding just four goals in nine games. Tanner may also have some assistance from a fellow Western Australian in achieving this, with former Perth Glory goalkeeper Lilly Bailey joining as a freshman in 2024.
Wilma Thodhlana (Sophomore, Saint Peter’s, Perth)
One of a growing number of Western Australians making the move to NCAA Division I, Wilma Thodhlana made five starts in nine appearances in her freshman campaign, making a promising start to life at Saint Peter’s. Thodhlana played the full 90 minutes on two occasions in her freshman season, eventually averaging just over 50 minutes per contest for a Peacocks team that finished with a 4-11 record.
As with fellow Austrailan, freshman Sophie Cook, Thodhlana will be tasked with improving Saint Peter’s defence in 2024 after they leaked 3.2 goals per game, with some heavy defeats in conference play contributing to that number. Whilst the attack also could use some improvement, it will be at the defensive end where the Peacocks have to build if they are to outperform their preseason poll position of 12th in the 13-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
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