NCAA Bracket
 
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis women's soccer team will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend, Nov. 16-17. The Bears secured the UAA automatic bid on Sunday, Nov. 3 with a 2-0 win over Rochester.
 
Joining the Bears at Francis Olympic Field are UW-La Crosse, Simpson and DePauw. The winner of the St. Louis, Mo. bracket will advance to play the winner of the Cambridge, Mass. pod, hosted by MIT, which features MIT, SUNY Geneseo, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Colby.
 
About the Bears
WashU enters postseason play with a 17-0-2 record and finished the UAA slate with a 6-0-1 mark. As a team, the Bears have combined for 68 goals this season while allowing opponents a total of just six on the year. As a program, it is the 23^rd time the Bears have played in the NCAA Tournament. Fourteen of those trips have been under the tutelage of head coach Jim Conlon.
 
First-year Olivia Clemons leads the Bears offensive efforts with 17 goals, which sits atop the UAA. Junior Grace Ehlert ranks second among UAA players with 12 goals while sophomore Madi Foley has six goals on the year. Sophomore Sophie Viscovich and senior Gaelen Clayton each have a team-high six assists.
 
Defensively, the Bears have been rock solid, allowing just six goals, anchored by senior Emma Riley McGahan, graduate student Ally Hackett and graduate goalkeeper Sidney Conner. WashU opponents have totaled just 85 shots all season for a shot percentage of 0.071 and just 41 of those have been on goal.
 
Conner, an All-American last season – has played and started in 17 games with a goals-against average of 0.40 and 28 saves. She has a record of 15-0-2 with six shutouts.
 
The UAA will announce the All-UAA awards on Monday.
 
Scouting UW-La Crosse
Currently sitting at 16-3-2, UW-La Crosse earned the WIAC automatic bid after defeating UW-Platteville in the title game, 2-1. The Eagles posted a regular-season conference record of 6-0-1, tying with Platteville on October 9.
 
Seven Eagles were named to the All-WIAC Team. Seniors Ellie Arndt, Ellie Behnke, Chelsea Gale, Alexis McMahon, Addie Pauling and Jillian Sawadski all earned first team honors and Sophie Pope earned an honorable mention nod. Additionally, Arndt was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season and McMahon was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the third-straight year. The Eagles' coaching staff was also named WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Sawadski leads the team with 11 goals and three assists for 25 points. Gale has eight goals and four assists while Aubree Cava has seven goals and five assists. Arndt leads the team with 10 assists to go with four goals and McMahon has seven assists along with four goals. In goal, Erelyn Apel has played in 14 games with a 0.42 goals-against average and a record of 10-0-1. Sophia Anger has played in 11 games with a record of 5-3-1 and a team-high 39 saves.
 
Scouting Simpson
Simpson, which enters the NCAA Tournament with a record of 14-2-3, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after falling in the A-R-C title game to Loras. The Storm finished the conference slate with a 7-1 record, falling only to Loras, 1-0.
 
Five players were named to the All-American Rivers Conference Team – Meredith Downs, Maddie Hays, Hailey Kowzan, Cassie Nash and Julia Wagoner. Additionally, Jordyn Foelske, Ally Hoffa, Savannah Schneider and Elle Street earned honorable mentions. Schneider was also named the conference Rookie of the Year.
 
Nash leads the team with 18 goals and eight assists for 44 points with five game-winning goals. Kowzan has a team-high 11 assists with six goals and Hays has six goals and one assist. Foelske and Schneider each have five goals on the year and Foelske has six assists. Downs has played and started in 17 games, allowing 14 goals for a goals-against average of 0.91 and 54 saves. She has a record of 12-2-3 with five shutouts.
 
Scouting DePauw
Sitting at 12-5-3, DePauw earned a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the NCAC, defeating Wittenberg 2-1 in the title game. This will be the second time the Tigers face WashU this season, as the Bears played and beat the Tigers 4-0 on September 13.

Jayla Logan was named NCAC Midfielder of he Year and earned a first-team All-NCAC nod. Macy Happe also picked up an All-NCAC first team honor while Aubree Empie was named to the All-NCAC second team. Sydney Calisto, Eva Lynch and Sophia Patrey each earned All-NCAC third team honors.
 
Katharine Lacy leads the team with six goals and one assist while Patrey has four goals and three assists. Happe also has four goals on the year. In the net, Empie has played in 20 games with 17 starts, tallying over 1,300 minutes. She has allowed 11 goals for a 0.76 goals-against average and has a record of 10-1-2 with four shutouts.
 
WashU vs. NCAA Playoff Field
The Bears have 10 familiar faces in the NCAA playoff field: North Central, Calvin, DePauw, Greenville, Emory, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Rochester and Chicago.
 

• North Central: W, 5-1 (9/6/24)
• Calvin: T, 0-0 (9/23/24)
• DePauw: W, 4-0 (9/13/24)
• Greenville: W, 7-0 (10/1/24)
• Emory: W, 2-1 (10/5/24)
• NYU: W, 3-0 (10/19/24)
• Carnegie Mellon: W, 3-0 (10/25/24)
• CWRU: W, 3-1 (10/27/24)
• Rochester: W, 2-0 (11/3/24)
• Chicago: T, 1-1 (11/9/24)

 
The 2024 Championship
A total 64 teams will compete in the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. Forty-three conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2024 championship. The other 21 berths were reserved for at-large selections designated by the NPI.
 
Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 15 and 16 or 16 and 17. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 22 and 23 or 23 and 24. 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 December 6 and 8, at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas, Nevada, with UNLV and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority serving as hosts.