Teagan Douglas and Bellarmine have enjoyed a solid start to the season, knocking off Miami of Ohio in their opener before enjoying a confidence-building demolition of NCAA Division III side Asbury last week. Things ramp up this week though, as the Knights host Big Ten side Indiana on Monday morning. As expected, Indiana also sit 2-0 at this early stage after defeating Aimee Benton and Youngstown State in their season opener and following that up with a 1-0 defeat of in-state foes Ball State. Both teams now have a win over a MAC opponent this season, although how much one can read into that statistic remains to be seen. More importantly, Australian fans will be hoping for a swift return to the starting lineup for Douglas, who has come off the bench for the first two games of the season after starting all 38 games in her first two seasons. Nonetheless, the defender from Maitland can be counted on to do her job against a highly fancied Hoosiers side.
Conversely, Kate Ryan barely saw playing time in her first two seasons at Dartmouth but played all bar 19 minutes for the Big Green, helping her team to a pair of wins by a combined score of 9-0 against Merrimack and Central Connecticut State. Much like Bellarmine though, this week’s opponent is at a much higher level as they face Massachusetts. The Minutewomen defeated Harvard last week to move to 2-1, atoning for the previous week’s defeat to NJIT. However, they were held to just five shots on target in that win, with their shooting efficiency proving decisive against a Harvard side that put seven of 19 shots on target. If Ryan and the Dartmouth defence can limit UMass’ shots in the same way Harvard did, it would be a rare occurrence for a team to find the back of the net with that same efficiency twice on the trot. Of course, this game will also serve as something of a barometer for Dartmouth as Harvard are a conference rival of the Big Green.
Little Rock’s Aussie trio helped dismantle UAPB in Week 1, with Candice Kilderry finding the back of the net in a 7-0 win, but a midweek 2-1 loss to ULM saw the Trojans drop to 1-2 despite an assist from the Victorian. However, they have a chance to bounce back in the Governor’s I-40 Showdown against Central Arkansas as the Sugar Bears make the 35-mile trip from Conway to Little Rock. These teams already have a common opponent this season, as Central Arkansas defeated ULM 3-1 on the opening weekend of the season; however, Little Rock won 2024’s edition of this rivalry matchup 2-0 on the road at UCA. Regardless of the result, we should expect to both Serenity Thake and Candice Kilderry play extended minutes, whilst freshman Claudia Hewitt has featured in two of the Trojans’ three games to this point.
Of course, every week needs its Aussie v Aussie matchup, and this week that game occurs <insert claps here> deep in the heart of Texas as Montanna Mathews and Incarnate Word travel to Stephensville to take on Tarleton State’s Aussie quartet of Adelaide Wyrzynski, Charlie Shanahan, Phoebe Riley, and Zoe Daly. These teams faced off last year on UIW’s home patch, with the teams sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw as Adelaide Wyrzynski finished with three shots in 46 minutes in a sign of things to come. The Texans’ first year Aussies have seen sporadic minutes this season, whilst Wyrzynski returned from international duty to come off the bench last week. However, if the Philippines senior national team player returns to the starting lineup for this one, we could see fireworks. However, Mathews is rapidly emerging as an integral part of the Cardinals’ lineup after playing 160 of 180 total minutes over the first two games, and we could even see a direct matchup between the two wide players.
Full Schedule
Bellarmine (2-0) (Teagan Douglas)
This week: v Northern Ky. – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; v Indiana – 3:00am, Monday 1 September
Cal State Bakersfield (0-4) (Georgia Martell)
This week: v Pacific – 12:00pm, Friday 29 August; @ Boise St. – 5:00am, Monday 1 September
Canisius (0-3) (Chloe Tseros)
This week: @ Robert Morris – 6:00am, Friday 29 August
Central Michigan (0-3) (Alyssa Di Campli)
This week: @ Cincinnati – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
Charleston (0-1-1) (Viktorija Calusic)
This week: @ Houston Christian – 8:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Texas – 3:00am, Monday 1 September
Charleston Southern (0-2-1) (Eve Tiktikakis)
This week: v Davidson – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Cleveland State (1-2) (Sophie Abbott)
This week: v Saint Francis – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
Dartmouth (2-0) (Kate Ryan)
This week: v Massachusetts – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
Denver (1-0-3) (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: v Texas A&M – 8:00am, Friday 29 August; v Southern Utah – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Detroit Mercy (1-3) (Chantelle Symes)
This week: v Bowling Green – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
East Carolina (1-2-1) (Jenny Hill)
This week: v UNCW – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
Fresno State (0-0-2) (Shivani Battaglia)
This week: v UC Santa Barbara – 12:00pm, Friday 29 August; @ Sacramento St. – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Gardner-Webb (0-2-1) (Sarah Birchall)
This week: v Wofford – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; @ South Carolina St. – 8:00am, Monday 1 September
George Mason (0-2-1) (Libby Davy)
This week: @ Villanova – 6:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Penn – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
George Washington (1-0-1) (Jasmine Black)
This week: @ Colgate – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Binghamton – 2:00am, Monday 1 September
Hampton (1-2) (Morgan Stanton)
This week: v Bluefield St. – 8:00am, Sunday 31 August
Harvard (0-1) (Erin Gordon)
This week: @ Fairfield – 8:00am, Saturday 30 August
High Point (0-2-1) (Montana-Rose Currey)
This week: @ Campbell – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; v Elon – 9:00am, Monday 1 September
Hofstra (3-1) (Lilly Bailey)
This week: v FDU – 9:00am, Friday 29 August
Incarnate Word (1-1) (Montanna Mathews)
This week: v Prairie View – 8:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Tarleton St. – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Jacksonville State (1-1-2) (Lara Aitken)
This week: v Samford – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Alabama A&M – 6:00am, Monday 1 September
Little Rock (1-1) (Claudia Hewitt, Candice Kilderry, Serenity Thake)
This week: v Central Ark. – 9:00am, Monday 1 September
Long Island (0-1-1) (Izzy Stein)
This week: v UAlbany – 5:00am, Friday 29 August
Loyola Maryland (3-0-1) (Eva McGorian, Ava Blizzard)
This week: v VCU – 8:00am, Friday 29 August
Maine (0-2) (Grace Wilson)
This week: @ Merrimack – 6:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Army West Point – 1:00am, Monday 1 September
Providence (2-0) (Meg Roden)
This week: @ Rhode Island – 9:00am, Sunday 31 August
Purdue (2-1-1) (Margaux Chauvet)
This week: @ Evansville – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Loyola Chicago – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Quinnipiac (0-2) (Stella Tosoni)
This week: v Syracuse – 4:30am, Friday 29 August
Rider (0-1-1) (CJ Harris, Eloise Jones)
This week: @ Saint Joseph’s – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; v NJIT – 7:00am, Monday 1 September
Saint Peter’s (2-1-1) (Wilma Thodhlana)
This week: v St. Bonaventure – 6:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Le Moyne – 6:00am, Monday 1 September
Seton Hall (2-0-1) (Grace Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell)
This week: v Lafayette – 8:00am, Friday 29 August; @ Drexel – 3:00am, Monday 1 September
Siena (2-1-1) (Iona Snape)
This week: v Le Moyne – 7:30am, Friday 29 August; @ New Hampshire – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
Tarleton State (2-1-1) (Charlie Shanahan, Zoe Daly, Adelaide Wyrzynski, Phoebe Riley)
This week: @ UTEP – 11:00am, Friday 29 August; v UIW – 4:00am, Monday 1 September
UAB (1-2-1) (Abbey Burns)
This week: v Southern Miss. – 9:00am, Monday 1 September
Youngstown State (1-3) (Aimee Benton)
This week: @ Kent St. – 9:00am, Friday 29 August; @ St. John’s (NY) – 3:00am, Monday 1 September
Leave a Reply