After a successful first season for NCAA Division II outfit Florida Tech, midfielder Eve Tiktikakis will make the jump to NCAA Division I for 2024, transferring to Big South program Charleston Southern. Tiktikakis’ move makes the Buccaneers the third Big South program set to feature Australians in 2024, alongside High Point and UNC Asheville.
A permanent fixture in the Heidelberg United NPLW Victoria matchday squad before making the move to college, there was no drop in playing time once Tiktikakis reached Florida Tech, immediately slotting into the starting lineup as a freshman. The midfielder scored on her debut against Auburn-Montgomery, and finished the season starting on 16 of 23 occasions, averaging 45 minutes of playing time across the season. Tiktikakis would finish the campaign with two goals and two assists. The Panthers finished 17-3-3, reaching the Sunshine State Conference championship game as well as the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Tournament, with Tiktikakis and Australian goalkeeper Ayana Aoyagi both instrumental in the team’s impressive campaign.
Tiktikakis now joins a Charleston Southern side that finds itself in a far different situation to the high-flying Florida Tech side for which she featured in 2023. The Buccaneers finished 9-5-4 last season, but even that was a stark improvement on their 2022 campaign, in which they finished 3-8-4. However, that record does indicate that the program is on an upwards trajectory, particularly after almost halving their goals conceded from 1.706 to 0.947 per game. The Buccaneers were decently efficient in attack last season, but they sat at 156th in the nation for shots per game despite finishing 62nd in the nation for accuracy. If their quantity of attacking opportunities can match the quality in 2024, there is no doubt that they can build on those nine wins. Adding a proven attacking piece like Tiktikakis certainly appears to be a move that can increase the Buccaneers’ chances in the front third as they look to build to double-digit wins and perhaps a deeper run in the Big South tournament for a team that has not progressed past the first round since 2005, despite winning the regular season championship in 2010.
Currently, Tiktikakis is spending her college off-season playing for her home club of Heidelberg United in NPLW Victoria, in a squad featuring former Little Rock defender Cameron Barreiro and A-League Women’s players Margot Robinne and Alana Jancevski. The newly minted Buccaneer has featured in four substitute appearances to this point, playing anywhere between 25 and 50 minutes in each appearance. The Bergers currently sitting in fifth, but just five points off second after 12 of 22 rounds.
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