Massachusetts advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship courtesy of an 89th minute winner against Dayton to avenge a regular-season defeat to the Flyers, and they will need to get past another team to whom they have already lost as they take on Saint Louis in the grand finale. However, the Minutewomen hardly disgraced themselves last time out against the Billikens, falling to a 1-0 defeat after being outshot 18-5. However, they will have to score goals if they want to avoid the lottery of a penalty shootout. But with Hannah Peric helping to keep things tight defensively whilst also contributing at the attacking end, Australian fans have plenty of reason to keep an eye on this game. Massachusetts’ at-large hopes aren’t completely dead at this stage, particularly after defeating Dayton, but anything but a shootout loss would probably see them miss out on an at-large spot, and even that may be enough. To quote the late, great Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, “just win, baby.”
Maine kick off their tournament campaign on Friday looking to add an America East championship and an NCAA Tournament bid to their regular season crown. Their semi-final is a rematch of the 2023 championship against UMass-Lowell, a game that the Black Bears won on a Lara Kirkby overtime goal after giving up a 2-0 lead. Maine also picked up a 1-0 win over the River Hawks during the 2024 regular season in a game that saw the Black Bears dominate, only for UMass-Lowell goalkeeper to come up with eight saves to keep the game close until the final whistle.
Of course, Kirkby remains a key player for the Black Bears, picking up an All-Conference Second Team selection in 2024 to add to her collection of awards. With four goals and two assists under her belt this season, the South Australian will definitely be a player to watch as she looks to control the midfield for Maine. Freshman goalkeeper Grace Wilson has only played in one game this season as a backup, but performed spectacularly in that appearance and will no doubt be ready to be called upon if necessary at any point throughout the remainder of the season.
Morehead State are also looking to go back-to-back as Ohio Valley Conference champions, and both Lilly Bailey and Natasha Tanner have been instrumental for the Eagles throughout the season. Just like Maine, their semi-final will also be a rematch of the 2023 championship game, as they take on #1 seed Tennessee Tech on the Golden Eagles’ home patch in Cookeville. As the #5 seed, Morehead State certainly come in as underdogs on paper, but what’s that old saying? “Act like you’ve been here before.” The Eagles don’t have to act like it, because they’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. Whilst Tennessee Tech picked up a 1-0 win in the regular season, but it was an incredibly close match that saw both Bailey and her opposite number make five saves, with a seventh minute goal enough to separate the teams. Morehead State do have the vastly superior goals against average, helped in no small part by Bailey’s performances this year, whilst Tanner has emerged from a spot making cameos off the bench to a regular starter. Tennessee Tech have the #1 next to their name and are playing at home, but none of that will matter to Morehead State.
Immediately following that game will be the showdown between Little Rock and Lindenwood, featuring All-Conference Second Team selection Candice Kilderry for the Trojans. The leading scorer for Little Rock with six goals, Kilderry has double the number of goals of any other player in the squad, and has even picked up an Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week selection when a reshuffle saw the Victorian deployed in the back line. Lindenwood certainly had the better of the game when these teams played to a 0-0 draw on Lindenwood’s home patch during the regular season, but ten saves from Little Rock goalkeeper Peyton Urban ensured that the Lions would not convert that dominance into a win. The Trojans will certainly be hoping that the balance of play is slightly less lopsided, and with Lindenwood’s home advantage from that regular season match not a factor in this neutral-site contest, Little Rock may just have enough things on their side to secure a victory.
The Southland follows a similar path to the Ohio Valley Conference, with Aussies in both semi-finals. The first matchup will see Caitlin Le Roux and Northwestern State take on Stephen F. Austin in a rematch of their final regular season contest, which Stephen F. Austin won 5-0 on their home patch as the Lumberjacks rode roughshod over much of the league on their way to the regular season crown. However, Northwestern State have compiled an 11-win season to this point, so we will see if that previous result was just an anomaly. Le Roux is likely to come off the bench in this one, as she has done in all 13 of her appearances this season in compiling 328 minutes of playing time.
Meanwhile, it’s an Aussie fiesta in the other semi-final as a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi side featuring midfield duo Emma Bates and Molly Arens, plus coach Daniel Clitnovici, take on Texas A&M-Commerce on their home patch. The Islanders are hosting the entire tournament this year, so even though they finished as the #2 seed, a win here would see them play in front of their home crowd even if #1 seed Stephen F. Austin win their semi-final. Unlike the other semi-final, the regular season matchup between these two teams was a close-run thing, with Arens scoring the opener in a 2-1 win for the Islanders, who needed only three shots on target to score their two goals. However, they will no doubt want to make more of their chances this time around, because those three shots on target came on a total of 16 shots. Arens has been in and out of the starting lineup this year, but has started the last two games and played around 70 minutes on each occasion, whilst Bates has been an occasional feature off the bench, so expect Aussies to feature on the pitch in this one too.
Meanwhile, the SWAC sees three teams featuring Aussies among the eight-team field. Two will meet in the quarter-finals as #6 seed Alabama State take on #3 seed Southern, although we are unlikely to see Yazmin Baird-Watson feature for the Jaguars. However, Grace Norbury will almost certainly play the vast majority of the game, if not the entire 90 minutes, whilst Madison Chambers is highly likely to come off the bench, so Aussie presence is all but guaranteed. Although Southern finished eight points clear of Alabama State in the regular season, the teams played out a 0-0 draw in Baton Rouge in an incredibly tight match that saw the teams combine for just four shots on target. Alabama State averaged 1.25 goals per game in conference play, but Southern conceded only three times in eight league games, and two of those goals came in one game against Texas Southern. Chances may be few for the Hornets in this one, so they will need to take the ones they get if Norbury and Chambers are to see their season continue.
Meanwhile, Jacquelline Kambere and #7 seed Mississippi Valley State take on #2 seed Grambling State in the Devilettes’ first conference tournament game in almost a decade. Unlike Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State will have to reverse a regular season loss to their quarter-final opponents after losing 2-0 on the road to the Tigers in early October. Although they were outshot 21-7 on that occasion, Mississippi Valley State put six of those seven shots on target, with Kambere tallying three of those shots, putting two on target. The senior has emerged as a valuable member of the Devilettes’ lineup this year, starting in all 13 of her appearances, adding three goals and two assists in the process. Whilst they may be one of the bigger underdogs in this tournament, there is a lot to be said for the freedom that comes with playing with house money, which Mississippi Valley State definitely are.
Finally, in the one conference that does not feature a tournament, chaos continues in the West Coast Conferences as Pepperdine, Santa Clara, and Oregon State all dropped points in midweek. Pepperdine and Santa Clara currently sit one point clear of Loyola Marymount and Oregon State, with Gonzaga only one point further back in fifth. At this point, it looks as though only the auto-bid will be enough for both Holly Furphy’s Santa Clara side and Katie Godden’s Oregon State outfit following those midweek results. Santa Clara should be good enough to knock off Saint Mary’s, although after labouring to a draw against a San Diego team in the bottom 60 in the national RPI rankings, nothing is certain at this stage. Oregon State have it slightly tougher against Portland, but the Beavers have been the Cinderella story of the conference this season, so tough opponents won’t faze them in the slightest. However, with Pepperdine kicking off at midday, Santa Clara may know by halftime of their own game, which kicks off at 1pm, if they are even still in the championship hunt, and Oregon State will definitely know by the time their own game kicks off at 7pm.
Full Schedule
NCAA Division 1
Alabama State (Grace Norbury, Madison Chambers)
This week: v Southern – 12:00pm, Friday 8 November (SWAC Tournament Quarter-Final)
Bellarmine (Teagan Douglas)
This week: No games.
Charleston Southern (Eve Tiktikakis)
This week: No games.
Coastal Carolina (Tahlia Voskanian)
This week: No games.
Dartmouth (Kate Ryan)
This week: No games.
Denver (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: v South Dakota State – 5:00am, Friday 8 November (Summit League Tournament Semi-Final)
Detroit Mercy (Chantelle Symes)
This week: v Northern Kentucky – 9:00am, Friday 8 November (Horizon League Tournament Semi-Final)
Fresno State (Shivani Battaglia)
This week: No games.
Harvard (Erin Gordon)
This week: @ Princeton – 8:30am, Saturday 9 November (Ivy League Tournament Semi-Final)
High Point (Meg Roden)
This week: v Radford – 11:00am, Friday 8 November (Big South Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Incarnate Word (Montanna Mathews)
This week: No games.
Little Rock (Candice Kilderry)
This week: v Lindenwood – 8:00am, Friday 8 November (Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Long Island (Izzy Stein)
This week: No games.
Loyola Maryland (Ava Blizzard)
This week: @ Bucknell – 11:00am, Friday 8 November (Patriot League Tournament Semi-Final)
Maine (Grace Wilson, Lara Kirkby)
This week: v UMass-Lowell – 10:00am, Friday 8 November (America East Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: @ Saint Louis – 5:00am, Monday 11 November (Atlantic 10 Championship)
Mississippi Valley State (Jacquelline Kambere)
This week: v Grambling State – 9:00am, Friday 8 November (SWAC Tournament Quarter-Final)
Morehead State (Lilly Bailey, Natasha Tanner)
This week: @ Tennessee Tech – 5:00am, Friday 8 November (Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Northwestern State (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: v Stephen F. Austin – 9:00am, Friday 8 November (Southland Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Old Dominion (Alice Thompson)
This week: v James Madison – 6:00am, Friday 8 November (Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Oregon State (Katie Godden)
This week: @ Portland – 2:00pm, Sunday 10 November
Pacific (Libby Davy)
This week: @ Washington State – 11:00am, Sunday 10 November
Purdue (Zoe Karipidis)
This week: No games.
Rider (Eloise Jones)
This week: No games.
Saint Francis (Claire Scarpin, Aimee Benton)
This week: No games.
Saint Peter’s (Sophie Cook, Wilma Thodhlana)
This week: No games.
Santa Clara (Holly Furphy)
This week: v Saint Mary’s – 8:00am, Sunday 10 November
Seton Hall (Grace Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell)
This week: No games.
Siena (Iona Snape)
This week: No games.
Southern (Yazmin Baird-Watson)
This week: v Alabama State – 12:00pm, Friday 8 November (SWAC Tournament Quarter-Final)
Stetson (Camila Madriz Figueroa)
This week: No games.
Tarleton State (Adelaide Wyrzynski)
This week: No games.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens, Emma Bates)
This week: v Texas A&M-Commerce – 12:00pm, Friday 8 November (Southland Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Towson (Courtney Butlion)
This week: No games.
UAB (Abbey Burns)
This week: No games.
UMBC (Annie Grove)
This week: No games.
UNC Asheville (Mercedes McNabb, Jasmine Barry)
This week: No games.
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: No games.
NCAA Division II
American International (Eloise Paine)
This week: No games.
Barton (Brigitte Sander)
This week: @ Belmont Abbey – 11:00am, Friday 8 November (Conference Carolinas Tournament First Round)
Cal Poly Pomona (Georgia Rink)
This week: v CSUSB – 6:30am, Friday 8 November
Cal State Dominguez Hills (Katie McDermott)
This week: v Cal State LA – 6:30am, Friday 8 November
Caldwell (Liz Warne)
This week: No games.
Carson-Newman (Amber Wilkinson)
This week: @ Wingate – TBA, Sunday 10 November (South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Catawba (Ashley Hughes)
This week: v Anderson – 5:00am, Sunday 10 November (South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Charleston (WV) (Ciara Casamento, Kate Duffy)
This week: v Wheeling – 11:00am, Monday 11 November (Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Concord (Caitlin Webster, Holly Gray)
This week: @ Fairmont State – 5:00am, Monday 11 November (Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Drury (Keva Culkin)
This week: v Indianapolis – 4:00am, Monday 10 November (Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Felician (Ruby Samild)
This week: v Dominican (NY) – 5:00am, Saturday 9 November
Fort Lewis (Renee Junna)
This week: @ Regis – 7:00am, Saturday 8 November (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament First Round)
Francis Marion (Ashley Jordan)
This week: v TBA – – 6:00am, Monday 11 November (Conference Carolinas Tournament Quarter-Final)
Franklin Pierce (Erin Keyt)
This week: v Assumption – 6:00am, Monday 11 November (Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Gannon (Paige Taylor)
This week: @ Indiana (PA) – 5:00am, Sunday 10 November
Glenville State (Summer McShane-Cale)
This week: No games.
Jefferson (Liv Riddel)
This week: v Holy Family – 6:00am, Saturday 9 November
Lincoln Memorial (Jade Brown)
This week: v Coker – TBA, Sunday 10 November (South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Mississippi College (Erin Stamatopoulos)
This week: @ Montevallo – 9:00am, Monday 11 November (Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Oklahoma Christian (Layla Lopez, Chloe Walker)
This week: v Tex. A&M Int’l – 12:00pm, Friday 8 November
Seton Hill (Maddie Teakle)
This week: v Edinboro – 5:00am, Sunday 10 November
Southern New Hampshire (Imogen Noon)
This week: v Saint Anselm – 8:00am, Monday 11 November (Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
UNC Pembroke (Sarah Bonifant)
This week: No games.
USC Beaufort (Alice Webster)
This week: @ Columbus State – 11:00am, Sunday 10 November (Peach Belt Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
UT-Tyler (Mackenzee Stokes)
This week: v Angelo St. – 7:00am, Friday 8 November
UTPB (Lara Brewis)
This week: v St. Mary’s (TX) – 11:00am, Friday 8 November
Valdosta State (Sienna Havill)
This week: @ Lee – 6:00am, Monday 11 November (Gulf South Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
West Virginia State (Emma Farrelly)
This week: v West Liberty – 6:00am, Monday 11 November (Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Wingate (Sophie MacAlpine)
This week: v Carson-Newman – TBA, Sunday 10 November (South Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
NCAA Division III
Bethany College (Gabby Hicks)
This week: No games.
Dean College (Miro McIntyre Clere)
This week: No games.
Lesley (Maya Spatafore)
This week: No games.
Millikin University (Lila Castillo Burgess)
This week: No games.
Monmouth College (Brontë De Zwart)
This week: No games.
SUNY Oneonta (Lisa Schinckel)
This week: No games.
Southern Maine (Kayla O’Connor)
This week: v VTSU-Castleton – 10:30am, Friday 8 November (Little East Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
NAIA
Briar Cliff (IA) (Tamzin Hilton)
This week: No games.
Corban (Ava Hayes)
This week: v College of Idaho – 5:00am, Monday 11 November (Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Cumberlands (Ky.) (Georgia Martell)
This week: No games.
Jamestown (N.D.) (Olivia Cullen, Gaby Sarkis)
This week: v Carolina (N.C.) – 6:00am, Sunday 10 November (Continental Athletic Conference Tournament First Round)
Keiser (Fla.) (Zara Board, Georgia Little, Zoe Edwards)
This week: No games.
Midway (Holly Johnstone)
This week: No games.
Reinhardt (Ga.) (Riley Welsh)
This week: No games.
Rio Grande (Saskia Vos)
This week: v TBA – 7:30am, Sunday 10 November (River States Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Rocky Mountain (MT) (Piper Adams-Jones, Georgia Dean, Tara Appleby, Ellen Gaudry)
This week: v Carroll (MT) – 8:00am, Monday 11 November (Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Science and Arts (Emali Goulas)
This week: v Mid-America Christian – 12:00pm, Saturday 9 November (Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
St. Andrews (NC) (Charlotte Weinand)
This week: No games.
St. Thomas (Fla.) (D’arne Boato)
This week: v Ave Maria – 9:00am, Friday 8 November (Sun Conference Tournament Quarter-Final)
Webber International (FL) (Claudia Vincent)
This week: No games.
Xavier (La.) (Amelia Suma)
This week: v Houston-Victoria – 4:00am, Friday 8 November (Red River Athletic Conference Tournament First Round)
NJCAA Division I
Barton (Mary Kahraman)
This week: No games.
Dodge City (Jada Lamond)
This week: No games.
Eastern Florida State (Aimee Longhurst)
This week: No games.
LSU Eunice (Gabby Stone)
This week: No games.
Laramie County (Giselle Heck)
This week: No games.
Monroe University (Emily Mackie)
This week: No games.
Murray State (Sofia Lopez, Kellie McMahon)
This week: No games.
Seminole State (OK) (Sophia Doumos)
This week: No games.
Seward County (Ryshelle Taylor)
This week: No games.
Tyler (Ella Palframan, Anna Powell, Sienna Powell, Layne Chapman)
This week: v Hill – 11:00am, Friday 8 November (NJCAA Division I South Central Championship)
Western Wyoming (Isabelle Kenna)
This week: No games.
NJCAA Division II
Heartland (Morgan Stanton)
This week: @ Kellogg – 4:00am, Saturday November 9 (NJCAA Division II Great Lakes Championship)
Johnson County (Sophie Abbott, Montana-Rose Curry)
This week: v Iowa Lakes – 7:00am, Sunday November 10 (NJCAA Division II North Plains Championship)
Mineral Area (Thea Draganova)
This week: No games.
Northeast (Samantha Bayer, Amelia Bingley, Helena Chetcuti, Talia Sanders)
This week: No games.
3C2A
Feather River (Lillian Pettersen)
This week: v Lake Tahoe – 6:00am, Saturday 9 November
USports Canada
UNBC (Scarlet Thomas)
This week: No games.
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