Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Setting the Scene: The North Central College women’s soccer team travel to Dubuque Iowa to battle in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament First and Second rounds inside the Rock Bowl. The tournament will feature 64 teams, starting with 32 games on Saturday for the first round followed by 16 games on Sunday for the second round.

Tournament Field: North Central College, University of Chicago, No. 21 Loras College, and Lake Forest College

Tournament Schedule: Saturday, Nov. 11 will have two games, the first game featuring Loras and Lake Forest at 1 p.m. followed by University of Chicago and North Central at 3:30 p.m. The two winners of the first round then play on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. to advance to the third round of the tournament.

North Central vs Tournament Field: The Cardinals have not faced this end of the bracket this year but, faced Loras in a close battle last season falling 3-2 and UChicago two seasons ago narrowly losing 2-1. The last time North Central faced Lake Forest was in 2011 where the Cardinals pulled ahead in overtime to win 1-0.

North Central in the NCAA Tournament: The North Central College women’s soccer marks their first NCAA tournament appearance in program history.

In the rankings: In the United Soccer Coaches’ fifth poll of the season, North Central found themselves ranked 23rd in the nation after a 10-2 start to the season. They fell one slot the following week but, found their name missing for the final two polls.

About North Central: North Central College women’s soccer obtained their program’s first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) regular season title after finishing conference play with a perfect 8-0 record. The Cardinals completed this feat while shutting out the entire CCIW conference for the first time in conference history. North Central clinched their automatic bid into the NCAA with a CCIW tournament sweep, scoring a combined nine goals while only allowing two. They enter NCAA Tournament play with a program best 18-2 record with a fourteen-game winning streak.

The Cardinals scored a program high ninety goals while only allowing fourteen, placing them third nationally in goals and points while placing first in assists and points per game. Leading the Cardinals with the CCIW’s Offensive Player of the Year senior, Elle Sutter, holds a first, fourth and fifth spot in game-winning goals (8), goals (27), and points (60) nationally. All while breaking the program’s single-season records for goals and points.

On the newcomer side, Jordan Lange earned the coveted CCIW’s first-year student-athlete of the year award. She broke the program’s freshman records for goals (14), assists (10), and points (38). Anchoring the Cardinals defense is the CCIW’s defensive student-athlete of the year recipient Kassandra Salviola. She assisted the defense and goalkeeper Jordan Boyd in eight straight shutout wins in conference play. Boyd at goal broke the program’s single-season shutout record with eight, while only allowing twelve goals this season with thirty-seven saves.

The Cardinals obtained a program high eight All-CCIW selections this season while also claiming the program’s first coach of the year award for Andrew Gamarra.

About University of Chicago: The Maroons mark their 21st NCAA tournament appearance after missing the tournament last season. This came off a tough schedule finishing the year 9-2-7 with a 1-1-5 record in the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference. They tied nearly every ranked opponent they faced including No. 8 Case Western Reserve, No. 6 Rochester, No. 3 Carnegie Mellon, and No. 2 Washington (Mo.). They narrowly lost to No. 17 Calvin 3-2.

Leading the Maroons offense is Hannah Rittenhouse with ten goals, three assists, twenty-three points, and sixty-four shots. At goal Sophie Pilarski has played the majority of the season allowing eleven goals with forty-three saves.

About Loras College: The No. 21 Duhawks mark their 20th NCAA tournament appearance after knocking off Simpson College in an overtime shootout in the championship round of the American River Conference (A-R-C) tournament. The Duhawks obtained a 16-1-1 overall record with a perfect 8-0 in conference play. They beat their only ranked opponent at the time ranked No. 23 St. Catherine University, 2-0.

Leading the offense for the Duhawks is Savannah Johnson with twenty-two goals, eleven assists, fifty-five points, and eighty-eight shots on the season. Kyndal Kells leads Loras in goal with thirty-five saves while allowing five goals.

About Lake Forest College: The Foresters enter the NCAA tournament for the first time after beating Grinnell College 4-0 in the Midwest Conference (MWC) tournament championship round. They come off the regular season with a 11-3-5 overall record and 7-0-1 in the MWC.

Leading the Foresters is Izzy DeStefano with thirteen goals, nine assists, thirty-five points, and forty shots. On the defensive end is Franca Finch at goal with thirty-eight saves while allowing ten goals.

Team Single Season Records: The Cardinals broke their team single-season program records of most wins (18), conference wins (8), goals scored (90), shutouts (12), best conference record (8-0), longest unbeaten streak (14), and longest win streak (14).

Career Records: Elle Sutter broke two career records in goals (49) and points (113). Kaitlyn Cannon broke the programs career record for assists recording her 27th. All while Jordan Boyd broke the goalkeeper career shutout record with her 16th.

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