TOURNAMENT PORTAL
St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis women's soccer team will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Last weekend, the Bears won the UAA title to secure the automatic qualifier bid for the conference.
Joining the Bears at Francis Olympic Field are Hanover, Sewanee and Maryville (Tenn.). The winner of the St. Louis, Mo. bracket will advance to play the winner of the Grand Rapids, Mich. Regional hosted by Calvin and featuring Spalding, MSOE and Denison.
Scouting Hanover
Hanover defeated Transylvania 1-0 to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC). The Panthers are currently 14-1-4 and finished out conference play at 8-0-1.
Beth Cook is the leading scorer for Hanover, netting 22 goals to go with eight assists for 52 points. Jostin Reeves has also reached double digit goals this season, scoring 13 goals with six assists for 47 points.
Goalkeeper Maggie Hinegardner has started every game in the net for the Panthers, tallying 1,537:15 minutes and allowing 11 goals for a 0.64 goals-against average. Additionally, Hinegarder has made 53 saves for a 0.828 save percentage and recorded eight shut outs.
Hanover and the Bears have faced two common opponents this season – Chicago and Rose-Hulman. Hanover tied Chicago 1-1 while the Bears tied 0-0. The Panthers tied Rose-Hulman 0-0 in the regular-season and won 2-0 in the HCAC semifinal while the Bears defeated RHIT 3-0.
Scouting Sewanee
Sewanee defeated Rhodes 2-1 in double overtime to win the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) championship and earn the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship. Brianna Fee, who was named the 2023 SAA Offensive Player of the Year scored twice in OT to boost the Tigers. Sewanee head coach Greg Cathell was named SAA Coach of the Year as well.
The Tigers come into the tournament with a 13-1-4 record and finished conference play with a 7-0 record. Brianna Fee leads the offensive efforts with 12 goals and two assists for 26 points. Samantha Ferry has five goals and two assists for 12 points while Maggie O'Hare has one goal and a team-high nine assists for 11 points. Leah Atkins has made 17 starts in 18 games in goal, allowing just six goals for a 0.38 goals-against average and has made 34 saves for a 0.850 save percentage. Additionally, she has six shutouts.
Sewanee and the Bears have five common opponents this season – Illinois Wesleyan, Piedmont, Emory, Rhodes and Centre. The Tigers beat Illinois Wesleyan 3-0, Piedmont 5-2, Rhodes 2-1 (twice) and Centre 3-1 while tying Emory 0-0. The Bears defeated Illinois Wesleyan 3-0, Piedmont 8-0, Rhodes 4-0, Centre 2-0 and Emory 2-0.
Scouting Maryville
Maryville beat Covenant 2-1 in double overtime to win the Collegiate Conference of the South. Prior to that, the Scots won four of the five major conference postseason awards as Hannah Smoot earned Offensive Player of the Year, Hailey Cartt earned Defensive Player of the Year, Madison McDonald was named Rookie of the Year and head coach Pepe Fernandez was Coach of the Year.
Sierra Lee leads the team with 12 points and eight assists for 32 points while Hanna Smoot has 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points. Sadie Phelan scored nine goals with one assist for 19 points. Sophie Turner has made 16 starts in the net for the Scots, totaling 1,291:54 minutes. She has allowed 10 goals for a .70 goals-against average and made 34 saves for a .773 save percentage. Additionally, she has recorded six shutouts.
The Scots and the Bears have three common opponents this season: Webster, Emory and Piedmont. Maryville defeated Webster 3-1 and Piedmont 3-0, 4-0 but fell to Emory 5-0. WashU defeated Webster 3-0, Emory 2-0 ad Piedmont 8-0.
WashU vs. NCAA Playoff Field
The Bears have six familiar faces in the NCAA bracket, all from the UAA: Emory, Rochester, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Chicago and Case Western Reserve University.
Emory: W, 2-0
- Rochester: L, 2-1
- NYU: W, 1-0
- CMU: T, 0-0
- Chicago: T, 0-0
- CWRU: W, 2-0
The 2023 Championship
A total 64 teams will compete in the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. Forty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2023 championship. One team was selected from Pool B. The other 22 berths were reserved for Pool C, which includes institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference championship and any remaining Pool B teams.
Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 10 and 11 or 11 and 12. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites on Nov. 17 and 18 or 18 and 19. All games, except the semifinals and final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the semifinals on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va., with Roanoke College and Old Dominion Athletic Conference serving as hosts.
