Fresh off a bye week following their win over Colorado State, Isabella Chidiac and Denver kick off Summit League play with a trip north to face two teams picked to finish at opposite ends of the table. The Pioneers face North Dakota in their first match of the weekend, a team that hasn’t finished above .500 since 2019 and is tipped to finish eighth in the nine-team league. However, the Fighting Hawks sit 5-3-1 so far this season, albeit with a strength of schedule that makes for fairly grim reading. Denver, who sit 3-3-3 against a far stronger slate, come into this one as favourites, but it is the second match of the weekend that could set the early tone for the entire conference. North Dakota State finished 6-1-1 in conference play in 2024, but wasted a golden opportunity to reach the NCAA Tournament, falling to Oral Roberts on penalties in the conference tournament semi-finals. Denver were the #2 seed in that tournament, and could have taken full advantage if they too had not fallen in the semi-finals to South Dakota State just a couple of hours earlier. Both teams have been picked to finish in the upper echelon of the conference this year, and an early win over a title rival would be the perfect way to start. Isabella Chidiac should once again be an integral part of the Denver lineup, with her five assists this season coming from a mixture of incisive passes from open play and some pinpoint delivery from corners. Although the midfielder has yet to tally a goal this season, that too doesn’t seem far away.
Shivani Battaglia and Fresno State have been picked to finish 11th in their final season in the 13-team Mountain West Conference, and they will be looking to make a mockery of those predictions as they jump the state line to take on Nevada and UNLV in the opening weekend of league play. Neither opponent is in particularly good form, with Nevada’s 1-6-1 record and 21 goals conceded to this point making eye-watering reading and perhaps seeing Wolf Pack fans long for the return of Aivi Luik or Vanessa Mann. Meanwhile, UNLV aren’t faring much better at 2-6-1, having shipped 20 goals of their own in 9 games. Fresno State have had no such worries defensively, with Battaglia’s save percentage of .771 helping the Bulldogs to concede just eight goals in as many games to this point, with a solid 3-2-3 record their reward.
Margaux Chauvet and Purdue fell to a pair of agonising defeats to Iowa and Maryland last week, but have plenty of positives to take into this weekend, particularly with a win over Wisconsin already under their belt. This week sees the Boilermakers welcome a couple of the Big Ten’s west coast newbies as Oregon and Washington visit West Lafayette. Both of these opponents feature notoriously stingy defences, with Washington conceding just six goals on their way to a 5-1-4 record, whilst Oregon have shipped only nine goals even as they sit at 2-6-2. Purdue, on the other hand, have conceded 13 goals but the 19 goals they have scored this season outshines both the Ducks and Huskies. It may be early in conference play, but the Boilermakers will be only one game from the midway point after this weekend, so points are at a premium even at this stage. Whether success comes from defensive improvement or continued lethality in front of goal, expect Margaux Chauvet to be heavily involved as the minutes leader amongst all Australians in NCAA Division I continues to play a crucial role for Purdue.
Three teams featuring Aussies sit in the top 5 in the MAAC at this early stage, with the league quickly becoming a destination for Australian players. Chloe Tseros and Canisius sit top of the pile with a perfect 3-0 record to this point, and they have a golden chance to maintain that record as they take on Iona, who have just one point to their name through four games. Tseros kept her first collegiate clean sheet last week in a win over Rider, and with the Golden Griffins’ brutal non-conference schedule behind them, hopefully there are more to come. Of course, the Canisius coaching staff would be happy if Tseros faced a grand total of zero shots, but we’d probably prefer her to be tested a few times but keep another clean sheet anyway.
Meanwhile, Iona Snape and Siena knocked off Merrimack in midweek to move level with fourth-placed Fairfield on seven points, with the Saints set to face the Stags in their only game of the weekend. Fairfield have compiled an impressive 7-1-1 record, with their only loss coming on the road at Big Ten side Rutgers. However, a draw with Quinnipiac in their last game showed that they are fallible in this league, and Siena are on a three-game winning streak. Snape is also in good form, having tallied a first assist of the season last week against Niagara, starting all 11 games so far, and averaging almost 70 minutes per appearance.
Meanwhile, we hope to see Stella Tosoni make a second appearance of the campaign as Quinnipiac face Merrimack. The Bobcats sit just a point back from Canisius, but have played a game more than the Golden Griffins, putting a little extra importance on this fixture. Like Quinnipiac, Merrimack demolished Mount Saint Mary’s 5-1 earlier in the season, and have already played the aforementioned Canisius and Siena sides, with those games accounting for their two losses in conference play. Quinnipiac will be hoping to dish out a third loss to the Warriors, particularly as they received two first-place votes in preseason and have been tabbed to finish second in the MAAC, whilst Merrimack have been picked to finish seventh.
Full Schedule
Bellarmine (7-1-2) (Teagan Douglas)
This week: v North Ala. – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; v Central Ark. – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Cal State Bakersfield (4-4-1) (Georgia Martell)
This week: v UC Irvine – 6:00am, Monday 29 September
Canisius (3-4) (Chloe Tseros)
This week: v Iona – 2:00am, Sunday 28 September
Central Michigan (0-7-1) (Alyssa Di Campli)
This week: v Toledo – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; @ Bowling Green – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Charleston (6-3-1) (Viktorija Calusic)
This week: @ UNCW – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Charleston Southern (Eve Tiktikakis)
This week: No games.
Chicago State (2-3-4) (Jacquelline Kambere)
This week: v Central Conn. St. – 8:00am, Friday 26 September; @ Wagner – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Cleveland State (3-3-3) (Sophie Abbott)
This week: v Youngstown St. – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; v IU Indy – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Dartmouth (4-2-2) (Kate Ryan)
This week: @ Penn – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
Denver (3-3-3) (Isabella Chidiac)
This week: @ North Dakota – 6:00am, Friday 26 September; @ North Dakota St. – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Detroit Mercy (2-7-1) (Chantelle Symes)
This week: @ Robert Morris – 6:00am, Friday 26 September; @ Youngstown St. – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
East Carolina (3-4-2) (Jenny Hill)
This week: @ North Texas – 4:00am, Monday 29 September
Fresno State (3-2-3) (Shivani Battaglia)
This week: @ Nevada – 12:00pm, Friday 26 September; @ UNLV – 5:00am, Monday 29 September
Gardner-Webb (Sarah Birchall)
This week: No games.
George Mason (2-5-2) (Libby Davy)
This week: @ Richmond – 7:00am, Friday 26 September; @ La Salle – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
George Washington (3-3-3) (Jasmine Black)
This week: v Duquesne – 5:00am, Friday 26 September; v Saint Louis – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Hampton (5-5-1) (Morgan Stanton)
This week: v Campbell – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Harvard (2-4-2) (Erin Gordon)
This week: v Princeton – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
High Point (Montana-Rose Currey)
This week: No games.
Hofstra (3-1-6) (Lilly Bailey)
This week: @ Towson – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Incarnate Word (3-3-2) (Montanna Mathews)
This week: @ East Texas A&M – 4:00am, Monday 29 September
Jacksonville State (6-3-2) (Lara Aitken)
This week: v Missouri St. – 8:00am, Friday 26 September; v FIU – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Little Rock (2-3-3) (Claudia Hewitt, Candice Kilderry, Serenity Thake)
This week: @ Southeast Mo. St. – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; v SIUE – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Long Island (3-2-3) (Izzy Stein)
This week: v Saint Francis – 2:00am, Friday 26 September
Loyola Maryland (3-2-4) (Eva McGorian, Ava Blizzard)
This week: @ Boston U. – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
Maine (Grace Wilson)
This week: No games.
Providence (3-2-1) (Meg Roden)
This week: @ Butler – 6:00am, Sunday 28 September
Purdue (4-5-2) (Margaux Chauvet)
This week: v Oregon – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; v Washington – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
Quinnipiac (2-3-2) (Stella Tosoni)
This week: @ Merrimack – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
Rider (2-4-2) (CJ Harris, Eloise Jones)
This week: @ Sacred Heart – 9:00am, Sunday 28 September
Saint Peter’s (Wilma Thodhlana)
This week: No games.
Seton Hall (3-2-4) (Grace Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell)
This week: v St. John’s (NY) – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
Siena (4-2-4) (Iona Snape)
This week: @ Fairfield – 3:00am, Sunday 28 September
Tarleton State (6-2-2) (Zoe Daly, Charlie Shanahan, Adelaide Wyrzynski, Phoebe Riley)
This week: @ Utah Valley – 11:00am, Friday 26 September; @ California Baptist – 11:00am, Monday 29 September
UAB (3-2-5) (Abbey Burns)
This week: v UTSA – 10:00am, Friday 26 September
Youngstown State (2-8) (Aimee Benton)
This week: @ Cleveland St. – 9:00am, Friday 26 September; v Detroit Mercy – 3:00am, Monday 29 September
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