Howard slipped up last week against Jacquelline Kambere and Chicago State, giving Izzy Stein and LIU a chance to move three points ahead of the Bison on the Northeast Conference table with a win in their matchup this week. This game certainly shapes as a battle of styles as a pair of teams who win in different ways face off. Howard’s stingy defence has given up just six goals in eight league games, but they have scored only 11. Meanwhile, Stein and the LIU attack have banged home 16 goals in their eight contests, but have leaked 12. Despite those differences, the teams come in level on 17 points, and a win either way will give the successful side not only a three-point buffer, but the head-to-head tiebreaker should it come down to that once everything has shaken out. Stein is one of only two players on the LIU roster with multiple goals and assists this season, and with those three assists coming across the last six games, expect the Sharks’ captain to be heavily involved once again.
Denver have been in the box seat for a top-two finish in the Summit League all season, and Isabella Chidiac’s side will have the chance to finish the job against South Dakota on Monday morning. Whilst Oral Roberts hold all the aces in the chase for top spot, a win for the Pioneers will ensure they can finish no worse than second, although Friday morning’s results across the league could see things wrapped up before Denver even hit the pitch. As one would expect from a 2nd v 5th matchup, the Pioneers will be favoured in this one as their excellent defence takes on one of the lower scoring teams in the conference. Meanwhile, Chidiac’s season tally of eight assists has her sitting just one behind a 10-way tie for fifth in the nation.
Stella Tosoni and Quinnipiac have already locked up a MAAC tournament berth, but there are still two more teams featuring Aussies right on the bubble heading into this weekend’s penultimate game. Chloe Tseros and Canisius sit tied for fifth on 16 points, whilst Iona Snape’s Siena outfit are just one point out of the tournament positions on 15. Ironically enough, each plays one of the two remaining Aussie-laden teams that are out of playoff contention. Canisius face Wilma Thodhlana and Saint Peter’s, whilst Siena face a Rider team featuring Eloise Jones and the injured CJ Harris. There won’t be any favours from their countrywomen though, particularly as Rider have already picked up a draw against Manhattan, the very team that currently splits Canisius and Siena on the table. Whilst neither team can secure a tournament berth without a lot of help from other results at this stage, they can certainly set themselves up heading into next Thursday’s final league game.
Three matchdays remain in the American, and both Jenny Hill’s East Carolina and a UAB side led by Abbey Burns can wrap up conference tournament spots with successful weekends. UAB sit right on the cutline in eighth position, but sit four points clear of Florida Atlantic and North Texas. The Blazers will play North Texas on the final day of the regular season, but before that, they must take advantage of a matchup with bottom-placed Temple. The Owls are yet to pick up a point in league play and have scored just five goals in seven games to this point whilst leaking more than two per game. The Blazers, on the other hand, feature an attack that is top 100 in the nation for goals per game. The three points are there for the taking, but Burns and her team still have to turn up and take them.
Meanwhile, Hill’s East Carolina side sit one point above UAB, but have a far tougher weekend in front of them. The Pirates face second-placed Rice and fourth-placed UTSA, although just three points separate the trio, so it is hardly a Murderers’ Row for ECU. Rice shape as the tougher opponent this week, having posted a 9-2-4 record and banged home 31 goals to this point, but even one point from a possible six would see the Pirates be, at worst, tied for eighth heading into the final day of the season. Of course, a team never wants to leave it that late to secure a tournament berth.
Full Schedule
Bellarmine (9-5-2) (Teagan Douglas)
This week: v Austin Peay – 9:00am, Sunday 26 October
Cal State Bakersfield (7-7-2) (Georgia Martell)
This week: v Hawaii – 1:00pm, Monday 27 October
Canisius (5-8-1) (Chloe Tseros)
This week: v Saint Peter’s – 3:00am, Sunday 26 October
Central Michigan (0-13-3) (Alyssa Di Campli)
This week: @ Western Mich. – 4:00am, Monday 27 October
Charleston (8-6-2) (Viktorija Calusic)
This week: @ Elon – 4:00am, Monday 27 October
Charleston Southern (5-6-4) (Eve Tiktikakis)
This week: @ Radford – 5:00am, Sunday 26 October
Chicago State (3-7-5) (Jacquelline Kambere)
This week: @ New Haven – 4:00am, Friday 24 October; @ Saint Francis – 3:00am, Monday 27 October
Cleveland State (4-5-7) (Sophie Abbott)
This week: @ Green Bay – 3:00pm, Saturday 25 October
Dartmouth (7-3-4) (Kate Ryan)
This week: @ Yale – 5:00am, Monday 27 October
Denver (8-4-4) (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: v South Dakota – 6:00am, Monday 27 October
Detroit Mercy (2-12-2) (Chantelle Symes)
This week: @ Purdue Fort Wayne – 6:00am, Sunday 26 October
East Carolina (5-6-3) (Jenny Hill)
This week: @ Rice – 10:00am, Friday 24 October; @ UTSA – 5:05am, Monday 27 October
Fresno State (6-5-5) (Shivani Battaglia)
This week: @ Air Force – 4:00am, Monday 27 October
Gardner-Webb (4-7-3) (Sarah Birchall)
This week: @ High Point – 7:00am, Sunday 26 October
George Mason (4-9-3) (Libby Davy)
This week: @ Dayton – 10:00am, Friday 24 October; v Saint Joseph’s – 4:30am, Monday 27 October
George Washington (4-8-4) (Jasmine Black)
This week: @ Davidson – 10:00am, Friday 24 October; v Fordham – 4:30am, Monday 27 October
Harvard (5-4-3) (Erin Gordon)
This week: v Penn – 4:00am, Sunday 26 October
High Point (2-9-3) (Montana-Rose Currey)
This week: v Gardner-Webb – 7:00am, Sunday 26 October
Hofstra (5-4-7) (Lilly Bailey)
This week: @ Stony Brook – 4:00am, Monday 27 October
Incarnate Word (4-7-3) (Montanna Mathews)
This week: v SFA – 10:00am, Friday 24 October
Jacksonville State (6-8-3) (Lara Aitken)
This week: v Western Ky. – 5:00am, Monday 27 October
Little Rock (7-3-5) (Claudia Hewitt, Candice Kilderry, Serenity Thake)
This week: v Lindenwood – 5:00am, Monday 27 October
Long Island (7-3-4) (Izzy Stein)
This week: @ Howard – 4:00am, Monday 27 October
Loyola Maryland (5-3-7) (Eva McGorian, Ava Blizzard)
This week: @ Army West Point – 9:00am, Saturday 25 October
Maine (3-6-3) (Grace Wilson)
This week: @ NJIT – 9:00am, Sunday 26 October
Providence (4-6-3) (Meg Roden)
This week: @ Villanova – 3:00am, Sunday 26 October
Purdue (5-10-3) (Margaux Chauvet)
This week: @ Minnesota – 5:00am, Monday 27 October
Quinnipiac (6-3-5) (Stella Tosoni)
This week: @ Iona – 1:00am, Sunday 26 October
Rider (2-7-7) (CJ Harris, Eloise Jones)
This week: @ Siena – 4:00am, Sunday 26 October
Saint Peter’s (5-8-3) (Wilma Thodhlana)
This week: @ Canisius – 3:00am, Sunday 26 October
Seton Hall (3-7-5) (Grace Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell)
This week: v UConn – 9:00am, Sunday 26 October
Siena (7-4-6) (Iona Snape)
This week: v Rider – 4:00am, Sunday 26 October
Tarleton State (7-6-4) (Zoe Daly, Charlie Shanahan, Adelaide Wyrzynski, Phoebe Riley)
This week: @ Abilene Christian – 11:00am, Sunday 26 October
UAB (5-4-6) (Abbey Burns)
This week: v Temple – 11:00am, Friday 24 October; v South Fla. – 5:00am, Monday 27 October
Youngstown State (7-8-2) (Aimee Benton)
This week: @ Northern Ky. – 3:00am, Sunday 26 October
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