Canisius and Quinnipiac played out one of the most memorable games in recent history in the MAAC Tournament semi-finals, and Chloe Tseros was at the centre of everything as the Golden Griffins advanced on penalties. In a game that saw Canisius open the scoring with a penalty before Quinnipiac equalised on a free kick that also saw the Golden Griffins go down a player with just over half an hour to play, somehow the game became even crazier. Quinnipiac had potential goals and an extra time penalty turned down via VAR, before the review system itself faced technical difficulties on a goal-line check for a potential Quinnipiac golden goal. Somehow, Canisius survived until the shootout, thanks in no small part to an acrobatic save from Tseros in extra time.
The freshman’s biggest save of the day was to come, though. Tseros went the right way on Quinnipiac’s opening spot kick in the shootout, and when the Bobcats put their second wide, Canisius held all the aces. The Golden Griffins stumbled slightly with a miss of their own, but their final taker converted to send her team into the conference championship game. Whilst Tseros was heavily involved for Canisius, unfortunately Stella Tosoni did not feature for Quinnipiac on this occasion.
The Golden Griffins would face upstart Sacred Heart in the championship game after the Pioneers overturned a 4-1 regular season defeat to post a monumental upset over Fairfield in the other semi-final, which also handed hosting rights for the championship game to Canisius. The Buffalo weather absolutely turned it on for the big day, with the pitch covered entirely in snow as the game headed to overtime following a 0-0 draw through 90 minutes. Unsurprisingly, neither team was able to find the back of the net in the extra 20 minutes, leading to a penalty shootout – after the grounds crew shovelled the penalty area at one end of the pitch. Tseros saved two of Sacred Heart’s first three penalties, but the Pioneers hit back late in the shootout to force sudden death and take victory with the sixth shot. Nonetheless, Tseros’ performance throughout the tournament capped a remarkable freshman season that leaves Canisius with absolutely no questions between the sticks going into next season.
Kate Ryan and Dartmouth travelled to Princeton for the four-team Ivy League tournament, and the tournament followed a script that has brought the Big Green a fair bit of success this season: keep things locked down at the back, and let Stephanie Lathrop cook. In a semi-final against Columbia that saw Ryan and her defensive corps hold the Lions to just two shots on target, Lathrop’s shot from just outside the area in the 24th minute proved not only to be too much for the Columbia goalkeeper to handle, but enough to secure Dartmouth’s passage to the championship game against Princeton.
The Big Green had fallen to Princeton in the regular season, but the Ivy League was so close this season that it was tough to read too much into one result. A cagey affair saw the teams combine for just four shots on target, with three of those being on Princeton’s side. However, Lathrop’s laser of a 63rd minute free kick gave the Princeton goalkeeper no chance, leaving Dartmouth 27 minutes to survive if they were to win their first Ivy League tournament title. Princeton forced two saves out of Dartmouth goalkeeper Ola Goebel in the last 15 minutes, but could not find the back of the net as the Big Green descended into raptures as the final few seconds ticked down. Ryan played all 180 minutes of the tournament, continuing a remarkable season that has seen the junior miss just 64 minutes of the campaign: the first 19 minutes of the season opener, and the second half of an already-decided rout against NCAA Division III side Brandeis in late September.
Grace Wilson may not have featured this week, but nonetheless it was a memorable few days as Maine came from the clouds to secure a threepeat in the America East tournament. Coming in as the #4 seed, Maine were perhaps not the favourites, but there is a lot to be said for a team with tournament pedigree, even if many of the stars of the last two seasons have since departed. The Black Bears needed double overtime to get past fellow conference heavyweights Binghamton 1-0 in the semi-final, with a 106th minute goal eliminating the need for a penalty shootout. However, they would need a shootout to get past Vermont, although a slow start made even overtime look unlikely at one point. The home team opened the scoring in the 4th minute before doubling their lead just before the 20-minute mark. Maine pulled one back 10 minutes later, before equalizing 7 minutes after halftime. Maine had all the momentum as the game progressed, tallying four shots to one in overtime but finding themselves unable to test the Vermont goalkeeper. Fortunately, they were far more accurate from the spot, winning the shootout 4-3 to secure a third straight America East tournament crown.
Like Wilson, Montana-Rose Currey may not have featured this week, but High Point’s unlikely Big South tournament victory will no doubt remain a career highlight for the Central Coast product. A team that didn’t even win a game until until October 11 had already rolled through the first round of the tournament last week with a 3-0 win, but the Panthers were far from done. They bounced #1 seed Radford 2-1 in 90 minutes despite being outshot 18-8, scoring with their only two shots on target. However, nothing would prepare anyone in the Matthews Sportsplex for what was about to go down in the championship game against USC Upstate. A sixth minute red card for High Point sent the Panthers down a player, but also prevented the Panthers from giving up an early goal as Joelle Giquinto sacrificed herself to deny the Spartans the easiest of one-on-ones. However, a 30th minute penalty put USC Upstate up 1-0 as they outshot High Point 17-2 in the first half. The barrage continued into the second half, and with 89 minutes played, the shot count read 28-3 but the score remained 1-0, giving High Point a glimmer of hope as they launched one final attack from a corner. Three quick-fire shots later, Kari Powell found the back of the net to tie things up. 20 minutes of overtime could not split the teams, and neither could the first five rounds of the shootout as both teams were perfect heading into sudden death. However, in the seventh round, High Point goalkeeper Aubrey McKessy made one of the biggest saves of her college career to secure victory against all the odds.
Little Rock faced Lindenwood in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semi-finals for the second year in succession, but once again it was unfortunately Lindenwood who advanced over a Trojans side featuring three Australians. The Trojans opened the scoring in the 12th minute, as a corner from Candice Kilderry was nodded home by Amaya Arias, and the score would remain 1-0 until halftime. However, a slow start to the second half from Little Rock saw Lindenwood equalise just 40 seconds after the break. The game remained reasonably even for much of the second half until an 80th minute red card for Little Rock gave Lindenwood the ascendancy. The Trojans held on to force extra time, but Lindenwood found a winner just three minutes into the first half of golden goal to advance to the championship game and leave Little Rock once again wondering what might have been.
Isabella Chidiac has compiled a season for the ages, but all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately for the Denver senior, that end came in the Summit League Tournament semi-finals against South Dakota State. In a game that saw each team post just three shots on target, a 72nd minute goal for the Jackrabbits was enough to secure their passage to the championship game against Oral Roberts. Chidiac tallied one shot in 81 minutes of playing time in her final collegiate game as a season that proved the value of biding one’s time came to an end.
The season now moves into the NCAA Tournament, and with no Aussies featuring on teams in the at-large conversation, Dartmouth, High Point, and Maine will be the extent of the Australian involvement in 2025. Dartmouth, as the only team of the three in the RPI Top 100, shape as the best chance of making a run beyond the opening couple of rounds, but they don’t play games on the RPI standings. The final draw will be released at 8am on Tuesday, November 11 (Sydney/Melbourne time), with the selection show streamed on NCAA.com.
Complete Results
Canisius (Chloe Tseros)
This week: defeated Quinnipiac 4-3 on penalties (1-1 after extra time) (MAAC Tournament Semi-Final); lost to Sacred Heart 4-3 on penalties (0-0 after extra time) (MAAC Championship)
Chloe Tseros played all 220 minutes for Canisius on Championship weekend, making six saves against Quinnipiac and three more against Sacred Heart, as well as one save in the shootout win over Quinnipiac and two more in the shootout loss to Sacred Heart.
Dartmouth (Kate Ryan)
This week: defeated Columbia 1-0 (Ivy League Tournament Semi-Final); defeated Princeton 1-0 (Ivy League Championship)
Kate Ryan played every minute of the Ivy League Tournament for Dartmouth, leading her team to two clean sheets on their way to a championship.
Denver (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: lost 1-0 to South Dakota St. (Summit League Tournament Semi-Final)
Isabella Chidiac started in Denver’s tournament loss to South Dakota State, posting one shot in 81 minutes of playing time.
High Point (Montana-Rose Currey)
This week: defeated Radford 2-1 (Big South Tournament Semi-Final); defeated USC Upstate 7-6 on penalties (1-1 after extra time) (Big South Championship)
Montana-Rose Currey did not feature for High Point on Championship weekend as the Panthers secured the unlikeliest of conference crowns.
Little Rock (Claudia Hewitt, Candice Kilderry, Serenity Thake)
This week: lost 2-1 after extra time to Lindenwood (Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Semi-Final)
Candice Kilderry played all 93 minutes in Little Rock’s overtime loss to Lindenwood, tallying the assist on the Trojans’ only goal. Serenity Thake played 29 minutes off the bench, whilst Claudia Hewitt did not feature on this occasion.
Maine (Grace Wilson)
This week: defeated Binghamton 1-0 after extra time (America East Tournament Semi-Final); defeated Vermont 4-3 on penalties (2-2 after extra time) (America East Championship)
Grace Wilson did not feature this week as Maine secured a threepeat following a comeback victory over Vermont in the title game.
Quinnipiac (Stella Tosoni)
This week: lost 4-3 on penalties (1-1 AET) to Canisius (MAAC Tournament Semi-Final)
Stella Tosoni did not feature in Quinnipiac’s heartbreaking shootout loss to Canisius.
Leave a Reply