NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT SECTIONAL
Hosted by Wheaton College at Joe Bean Stadium
LINK TO THE INTERACTIVE TOURNAMENT BRACKET
SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS - NOVEMBER 21
Wheaton def. Washington (Mo.), 3-0 --- Live stats --- Webcast --- Boxscore --- Story
Carleton def. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 1-0 --- Live stats --- Webcast --- Boxscore --- Story
SECTIONAL FINALS - NOVEMBER 22
Wheaton def. Carleton, 2-1 --- Webcast --- Live stats --- Boxscore --- Story
WHEATON 2, CARLETON 1
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College women’s soccer team will be returning to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Final Four. The Thunder secured its spot among the final four women’s soccer teams playing in Division III with a 2-1 victory against Carleton College (18-6-0) on Saturday night in a Sectional Final at Wheaton’s Joe Bean Stadium.
Wheaton (21-3-2) will face Williams College in a National Semifinal on December 5 in Greensboro, North Carolina. This year’s trip is Wheaton’s fifth Final Four appearance, with National Championships in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Wheaton attacked the Knights throughout the first half, with an 8-2 edge in shots for the hosts. Wheaton’s first goal was a penalty kick that was put into the net by All-American #Taryne Lee# (PICTURED RIGHT) 39:28 into the match. Wheaton was awarded the penalty kick when Thunder freshman #MacKenzie Williams# was fouled in the goalie box by a Carleton player. Wheaton maintained its 1-0 lead into the halftime intermission.
Freshman #Ali Kopelman# scored a key goal off of a Lee assist at 52:16 to put the Thunder up 2-0. Carleton cut the Thunder lead to 2-1 with a Sophie Wood goal at 87:48 and the Knights attempted to cut through Wheaton defense as the match came to a close, however, Wheaton held off the Carleton attack to earn the win.
Head coach Pete Felske said of tonight’s match, “In the first half I didn’t think we played our best soccer, but our effort was good. We told our team at halftime that eventually our attack would wear on Carleton and I think that is what happened – I think we just wore them down in the second half.” Felske added of taking his team back to the Final Four, “I think that because of the success we have had in the last few years people may think that we are the team to beat. However, we are going in beat-up and tired and only half of our squad has been there before, the other half has not.”
Wheaton out-shot Carleton 15-10 on the in the match, with an 11-4 advantage in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper #Ingrid Erickson# made one save and allowed one goal for the Thunder. Carleton goalkeeper Kate Trenerry made four saves and allowed two goals for the Knights.
WHEATON 3, WASHINGTON (Mo.) 0
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College women’s soccer team has extended its defense of its 2007 NCAA Division III Championship as the Thunder defeated Washington University (Mo.) 3-0 on Friday night at Wheaton’s Joe Bean Stadium in a Sectional Semifinal of the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament. With the victory in cold conditions, Wheaton (20-3-2) has advanced to Sectional Championship Match on Saturday at 6 PM and will face the winner of Friday’s other Sectional Semifinal between Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Carleton College. Washington ends its season with a 15-4-2 record.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first half. Wheaton took a 1-0 lead at 53:38 when All-American #Taryne Lee# passed the ball to senior co-captain #Kari Klynstra# (PICTURED LEFT) who scored on a one-timer. Wheaton held its 1-0 advantage for approximately 25 minutes, until senior #Erin Hodina# converted a Lee assist into her second goal of the year for a 2-0 Thunder advantage at 79:03. Freshman #Ali Kopelman# scored on a #Lauren Moser# assist at 89:20 to give Wheaton the 3-0 advantage that would become the final score.
Wheaton out-shot the Bears 22-7, with a 14-4 advantage in the decisive second half and the hosts held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks. Wheaton goalkeeper #Ingrid Erickson# made two saves in posting her fourth shutout of the year.
Wheaton head coach Pete Felske said of his team’s performance, “I feel good about the energy that we had tonight. Hopefully we can sustain it tomorrow.” He added, “Our offensive pressure wears people down over time and it allows us to get more and more space as time goes on. I thought our ability to take players one-on-one was very good tonight.” Felske concluded, “I think that we are beginning to play better than we had been playing. We are playing hard, we are challenging everything and our players up front are continually attacking. If we continue to play like that tomorrow I am confident.”
CARLETON 1, CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS 0
Wheaton, Ill. – The Carleton College Knights have made the most of their first-ever NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament appearance. Carleton was a 1-0 victor against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday in a NCAA Tournament Sectional Semifinal Match. The Knights have now advanced to the Sectional Final on Saturday at 6 PM where they will take on the host Wheaton College Thunder. Wheaton, the defending NCAA Division III Champion, advanced with a 3-0 win against Washington University (Mo.) in tonight’s other Sectional Semifinal at Wheaton’s Joe Bean Stadium.
Carleton’s Lily VanderStaay (PICTURED LEFT) broke a scoreless tie when the scored 37:36 into tonight’s match against C-M-S to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. It would be enough to lead Carleton to Saturday night’s meeting with Wheaton.
The two teams battled each other throughout tonight’s closely contested struggle as Carleton held a 12-11 edge in shots Carleton had four corner kicks, while C-M-S attempted none. Carleton goalkeeper Kate Trenerry made six saves in recording the shutout. C-M-S goalkeeper Camila Friedman-Gerlicz made four saves and allowed one goal in the Athenas’ net.
SECTIONAL PREVIEW
CARLETON KNIGHTS
This is Carleton’s first trip to the national tournament. At 17-5, the Knights shattered the school record for victories in a season. Three of their losses were to teams ranked in the NSCAA Top 25, including squads that were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 at the time. The Knights led the MIAC with 16.55 shots per game.
Nicky Bloom (PICTURED RIGHT) leads the team with 10 goals, which is the most by a Carleton player since 2001. Bloom has been clutch in the postseason, tallying three goals and two assists in four games. Four of the eight goals scored by Cassie Burke this season were game-winners, including the lone goal in the Knights’ win at Puget Sound.
Mia Zutz scored five goals and has a team-leading seven assists, while earning All-MIAC honors for the second year in a row. She is the Knights’ career leader with 16 assists. Sophie Wood anchored the Knights’ backline, received All-MIAC first-team honors for the second time and had a career-best four goals.
Carleton goalkeepers have posted 13 shutouts and allowed 15 goals this year. Primary starter Kate Trenerry has a 10-3-0 record, a 0.72 goals against average and nine shutouts.
The Knights beat College of St. Scholastica 2-0 in the NCAA First Round for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. They then beat No. 6-ranked University of Puget Sound 1-0 in the Second Round.
CMS advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the SCIAC Tournament for the second time in its three-year history. The Athenas won 1-0 against Redlands after advancing to the final, 4-2 via penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie with Cal Lutheran.
First Team All-SCIAC forward Laura Hagen leads the team with 16 goals and seven assists on the season while fellow First Teamer Giselle Galanto is second in points with eight goals and five assists. Nicole Sady-Kennedy has four goals and four assists.
In goal, First Team All-SCIAC goalkeeper Camila Friedman-Gerlicz (PICTURED RIGHT) has started 22 games with a 1.02 GAA and six shutouts on the season.
The Athenas are 3-3 against NCAA Tournament teams during the season. CMS beat UC Santa Cruz 4-2, beat Redlands 1-0 and won at Redlands 1-0. CMS also lost to St. Thomas 2-1 (OT), lost to Washington University (Mo.) 4-2 and lost at Redlands 1-0.
So far in the postseason, the Athenas advanced out of the first round for the first time with a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie with Hardin-Simmons in the First Round. They also beat UC-Santa Cruz 4-0 in the Second Round to advance to this weekend’s Sectional. CMS is now 2-2-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in its three appearances.
WASHINGTON (MO.) BEARS
The Bears earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) for the third-straight year.
Senior goalkeeper Amanda Boe leads the UAA in saves (83) and saves per game (4.15), and is third in save percentage (.838). Her goals against average is 0.81 in 20 starts.
Junior Caryn Rosoff (PICTURED RIGHT) ranks fifth in Washington University history in goals scored (31) and points (77), seventh in game-winning goals (8) and eighth in assists (15). Rosoff leads the team in points with nine goals and four assists.
Head coach Jim Conlon is in his first season at Washington University after spending the past eight seasons as the head men’s and women’s coach at Wartburg College. He has an overall record of 111-60-7 (.643) as a collegiate women’s coach.
Washington U. is 4-0 this season against teams ranked in the top-25, including wins against No. 10 Rhodes (1-0), No. 11 Emory (2-0), No. 16 Rochester (2-1) and No. 19 Calvin (3-2 OT).
This is the third-straight year and eighth year overall that Washington has participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Bears have a 13-6-2 record in those appearances.
Washington started the postseason with a 3-0 win against Principia College and then advanced 3-1 in penalty kicks against Illinois Wesleyan, following a 0-0 tie against the Titans in the Second Round.
This is Wheaton’s 12th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament. Wheaton is 30-7-2 (.769) all-time in the postseason, with four Final Four appearances and National Championships in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Wheaton’s 76.9% tournament winning percentage is the highest and the program’s 30 all-time tournament wins is the second highest among current Division III institutions.
Wheaton has compiled a record of 90-3-3 at home since the start of the 2002 season.
Wheaton head coach Pete Felske is currently ranked in the top-10 all-time in NCAA women’s soccer history with a career record of 323-85-20.
The Thunder has outscored opponents 98-20 and outshot foes 604-167 this season. Wheaton also holds a 181-56 corner kick advantage.
Defending NSCAA Division III “Player of the Year” Taryne Lee (PICTURED RIGHT) has recorded at least one point in 16 of the last 19 matches, during which she has scored 23 goals and tallied eight assists. The junior forward has broken her own school record with 28 goals this season.
Wheaton began the postseason with a 3-1 win over Carroll University in the First Round. The Thunder advanced past UW-Eau Claire thanks to a 3-1 advantage in penalty kicks following a 0-0 tie after two overtimes in the Second Round.
