TOURNAMENT PORTAL
Dubuque, Iowa, November 17, 2021 – The No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis women's soccer team is set to travel to Dubuque, Iowa this weekend for the sectional round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears will face Wis.-La Crosse on Saturday, November 20 at 11 a.m. in the Sweet 16 and the winner of that game will move on to the Elite 8 to face the winner of Loras and Centre.
WashU vs. Sectional Field
WashU faced host-team Loras in the second game of the year and it ended in a 0-0 draw. The Bears last faced Wis.-La Crosse in 2018 for the just the fourth time in program history for a 2-2 all-time record. The Bears have faced Centre just once, in 2007, which they won.
Scouting Loras
Loras is currently 20-0-1 on the season with its only non-win coming against the Bears early in the season in the form of a 0-0 draw. The Duhawks defeated Wartburg College 4-1 to win the American Rivers Conference Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. In last weekend's opening rounds, Loras beat Fontbonne 1-0 and then took down Calvin 3-0 to keep the run alive.
Loras and the Bears have three other common opponents – Dominican, Fontbonne and Illinois Wesleyan. Loras beat Dominican 1-0, defeated Fontbonne 3-1 and 1-0 and topped IWU 3-2. The Bears defeated Dominican 1-0, Fontbonne 3-1 and Illinois Wesleyan 1-0.
Payton McDonnell leads the team in points with 27 on three goals and a Division III-best 21 assists. Abby Eriksen leads the team with 11 goals and three assists for 25 points while Brynn Jacobi has nine goals and six assists for 24 points. Ryleigh O'Brien also has nine goals on the year to go with four assists.
Kyndal Kells has played and started in 15 games for the Duhawks this year, totaling 1,283 minutes, allowing just four goals and making 46 saves for a 0.920 save percentage which ranks 11th among Division III players.
Scouting Centre
Centre is currently 17-1-2 on the year. The Colonels defeated Sewanee in penalty kicks to win the SAA Championship. In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Centre defeated Covenant 3-1 before moving on to take down No. 21 Emory 2-1 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Centre and WashU have just one common opponent this season in Emory. Earlier in the season, the Colonels tied Emory 0-0 before beating the Eagles 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
Megan Sidaway leads the Colonels with 11 goals and three assists for 25 total points. Taylor Gebhart has seven goals and two assists on the season while Lizze Klehr has four goals and six assists for 14 points. Elizabeth Nelson also has 14 points on five goals and four assists.
Jonelle Barron has played and started in all 20 games for a total of 1,711 minutes. She has allowed just six goals for a 0.32 goals-against average and has made 36 saves.
Scouting Wis.-La Crosse
Wis.-La Crosse is currently 16-4-2 on the year. The Eagles fell to UW-Osh Kosh in the WIAC final but earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Wartburg 1-0 in the opening round and St. Catherine 1-0 in two overtimes to advance.
The Bears and La Crosse have five common opponents this year – Dominican, Illinois Wesleyan, Carthage, Wheaton and UW-Whitewater. La Crosse tied Dominican 1-1, defeated IWU 4-0, beat Carthage 4-0, tied Wheaton 1-1 and beat Whitewater 3-0. WashU beat Dominican 1-0, IWU 1-0, Carthage 4-0, Wheaton 2-0 and Whitewater 3-0.
Sophie Amundson leads the team with 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points. Ainsley Allan has nine goals and four assists while Natalie Schisel has five goals and four assists. Ellie Arndt has four goals and four assists for 12 total points.
Quinn Shannon has played in 18 games, starting all of them. She has allowed 15 goals for a goals-against average of 0.83 and has recorded six shutouts.
WashU vs. 2021 NCAA Playoff Field
The Bears have faced seven teams in the NCAA Tournament this year (four of them fellow UAA teams) – Loras, Fontbonne, Emory, Case Western Reserve, Chicago, Carnegie Mellon and Wheaton. WashU is 4-1-2 against those opponents, having beaten Fontbonne, Emory, Wheaton and Carnegie; tying Loras and Chicago; and losing to Case Western Reserve.
WashU in the NCAA Tournament
This year marks the Bears' 20th NCAA Tournament. WashU holds a 42-15-9 (.705) record in the NCAA Tournament and have won the National Championship once in 2016. This year also marks the 15th-straight NCAA tournament appearance for the Bears, as they have made it every year since 2006 (the 2020 NCAA Championship was canceled due to COVID).
The 2021 Championship
The NCAA Division III women's soccer championship consists of a field of 64 teams. Forty-two conference received automatic bids while one team was selected from Pool B, which is made of independent institutions as well as members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final 21 berths consist of Pool C teams, which includes institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship and any remaining Pool B teams.
All tournament games leading up to the national semifinals will be played on the campuses of the competing institutions. Sixteen sites will host four teams for first-and second-round competition Nov. 12 and 13 or 13 and 14.
Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites Nov. 19 and 20 or 20 and 21. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the national semifinals, which take place Dec. 3 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. The national championship game will be played Dec. 4.
Tickets
Tickets will be sold at the gate prior to each game. Adult tickets will cost $8, seniors will cost $5, students $3 and children five and under are free. Tickets are cash only.
