This week sees conference play commence for a few players, and also the introduction of another College Matilda as USC attempt to corner the market on Aussies born in the US. Meanwhile, one Aussie will be involved in what could be the national game of the week.
Amy Sayer netted her first college goal last week, and her first chance to score another will come against the defending national champions as Stanford host Santa Clara in their only game of the weekend. Stanford are undefeated in their last three contests against the Broncos, but this shapes as one of the more intriguing battles between the two teams in recent years. Santa Clara are defending national champions but currently sit at 3-2-2, whilst Stanford have improved considerably on their spring campaign to hold a 5-2 record and sit one spot above Santa Clara at 10th in the United Soccer Coaches poll. This shapes to be one of the games of the week, and the presence of Sayer only makes it more mouth-watering for Australian fans.
Staying in the Pac-12, we were recently tipped off as to the presence of a second Australian at USC alongside Talia Grossman. Hailing from Las Vegas, Isabel Rolley spent four years living in her mother’s homeland of Australia and started in 9 of her 12 appearances in the spring campaign earlier this year. This week sees USC take on UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge in their final two non-conference games, and hopefully we see the junior defender on the pitch for the Women of Troy as they look to head into league play with a 5-2 record.
Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech start conference play this week, and Caitlin Le Roux will be hoping to maintain the spot in the starting lineup that she secured for both of the Lady Techsters’ games last week. These two opening games come against Charlotte and UAB, two teams that will provide a stern test for Louisiana Tech. Charlotte received five first place votes in the East Division preseason poll, whilst UAB were picked to finish fourth in the West Division, three spots ahead of Louisiana Tech who have been tabbed to finish bottom. However, UAB have tripped up this season on several occasions in matches they should have won, whilst Charlotte have lost three of their last four games, including some to teams that a top Conference USA side should be getting at least a draw against. That doesn’t mean that either game will be particularly easy for Le Roux and her teammates, but they may be facing both of these teams at the best possible time.
Last week saw Indianna Asimus tally her first goal for Illinois State following her transfer from Wyoming, and the senior will this week look to take that form into the Redbirds’ opening conference game. This looks set to be a battle of championship contenders; Illinois State were picked second in the conference preseason poll, but Valparaiso earned a first-place vote despite being picked fourth in the poll. Neither team has had a particularly successful time in non-conference play this season, with Illinois State sitting at 2-6 and Valparaiso at 3-4-1. However, both teams have played a solid schedule to this point, so should be fairly battle-hardened by this point.
Full Schedule
(All Times AEST)
Alabama State (Madison Chambers, Grace Norbury)
This week: v Lipscomb – 9am, Saturday September 18
Butler (Claire Farrington)
This week: v Western Michigan – 9am, Friday September 17
Creighton (Ayana Aoyagi, Renée Pountney)
This week: @ Iowa State – 9am, Friday September 17
DePaul (Katie Godden)
This week: v Eastern Illinois – 6:30am, Sunday September 19
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
This week: v Tennessee Tech – 9am, Saturday September 18
Eastern Illinois (Ashleigh Harvie)
This week: @ DePaul – 6:30am, Sunday September 19
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: @ UC San Diego – 7am, Monday September 20
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia)
No games this week.
Hofstra (Grace Watson-Carr)
This week: @ Princeton – 9am, Friday September 17
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
This week: @ Michigan – 7am, Saturday September 18
Illinois State (Indianna Asimus)
This week: @ Valparaiso – 10:30am, Saturday September 18; v Toledo – 3am, Monday September 20
Incarnate Word (Madison McComasky)
This week: v Northwestern State – 8am, Saturday September 18; v McNeese State – 4am, Monday September 20
La Salle (Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: v Fordham – 3am, Sunday September 20
Long Beach State (Aimee Medwin)
This week: v Montana – 12pm, Friday September 17; v California – 9am, Monday September 20
Louisiana Tech (Caitlin Le Roux)
This week: @ UAB – 10am, Friday September 17; v Charlotte – 4am, Monday September 20
Louisiana-Monroe (Brianna Edwards, Siobhan Edwards)
This week: v Troy – 4am, Monday September 20
Massachusetts (Hannah Peric)
This week: @ Duquesne – 3am, Monday September 20
Oregon (Lara Kirkby)
This week: v Portland – 12pm, Saturday September 18; @ Portland State – 6am, Monday September 20
Rhode Island (Teresa Morrissey)
This week: v Davidson – 3am, Monday September 20
San Francisco (Ashley Jordan)
This week: @ Southern Methodist – 12pm, Friday September 17; @ Baylor – 5am, Monday September 20
Stanford (Amy Sayer)
This week: v Santa Clara – 10am, Monday September 20
Tennessee-Martin (Kiarnie Latham)
This week: @ Arkansas – 4am, Monday September 20
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Molly Arens)
This week: v McNeese State – 10:30am, Saturday September 18; v Northwestern State – 4am, Monday September 20
UMBC (Isobel Davy, Annaliese Grove, Abi Jordan)
This week: @ Maine – 2am, Monday September 20
UNC Asheville (Jasmine Barry)
This week: @ Gardner-Webb – 9am, Sunday September 19
USC (Talia Grossman, Isobel Rolley)
This week: @ UC Santa Barbara – 12pm, Friday September 17; v Cal State Northridge – 6am, Monday September 20
VCU (Greta Kraszula)
This week: v George Washington – 4am, Monday September 20
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