Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Setting the Scene: The North Central College women’s soccer team heads to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for the first and second rounds at the CMU Soccer Field, marking their second consecutive program appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament. 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, Illinois Institute of Technology, No. 7 Carnegie Mellon University, and Mount St. Joseph University

Tournament Schedule: Saturday, November 16th will have both first-round matches including Carnegie Mellon and Mount St. Joseph as the first match at 11 p.m. (ET) followed by North Central and Illinois Tech at 1:30 p.m. (ET). The winners of the first round will then compete on Sunday, November 17th at 1 p.m. to advance to the third round of the tournament.

North Central vs Tournament Field: The Cardinals have not faced the majority of this end of the bracket but historically have faced Illinois Tech claiming a 2-1-1 record. The last matchup saw North Central end in a 2-2 stalemate with Illinois Tech in 2021. North Central has yet to face Carnegie Mellon or Mount St. Joseph and would mark the first time on Sunday.

North Central in the NCAA Tournament: The North Central College women’s soccer team marks their second program appearance in the NCAA Tournament after falling in a penalty kick shootout to the University of Chicago in the first-round last season.

In the rankings: North Central began receiving votes nationally in the first poll of the United Soccer Coaches’ rankings finding their name added in the second poll to a 20th spot. The following week, the Cardinals lifted to a 15th position after claiming a 6-0 shutout over the No. 8 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The fourth poll marked their last time in the rankings, falling to a 24th slot after losing to their College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Carroll University 2-1.

About North Central: The North Central College women’s soccer team earned their second consecutive program selection to the NCAA Tournament after winning their second consecutive CCIW tournament title. They tallied a final record of 16-4-1 with ten shutouts and a perfect eleven-victory streak at home. They earned their tournament bid after shutting down Millikin University in the semifinals (4-0) and battling to a penalty kick victory in the championship match against Carroll University.

The Cardinals scored a collective seventy-nine goals while allowing twenty-seven throughout the season. The team ended the year nationally ranked fourth in assists per game (3.43), fifth in points per game (10.95), sixth in scoring offense, second in total assists (72), fourth in total goals (79), and fourth in total points (230). Elle Sutter leads the Cardinal offense with her second consecutive CCIW Offensive Player of the Year selection holding second in game-winning goals (9), eighth in goals per game (1.24), seventh in points per game (3.14), tied for eleventh in total assists (14), tied for fourth in total goals (26), and tied for third in total points (66) nationally.

On the defensive side, Kassandra Salviola earned her second CCIW Defensive Player of the Year selection after anchoring the team to ten shutout victories, tallying nine goals, five assists, and twenty-three points. Freshman, Olivia Mattison stepped up to guard the goal through nineteen matches earning fifty-four saves.

About Illinois Institute of Technology: The Scarlet Hawks earned their program’s first bid to the NCAA Tournament after their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament victory. Their championship round saw them claim an electric 6-1 victory over the No. 2 seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering, finishing overall with an 18-2-2 record and a near-perfect 11-0-1 record in conference. 

Leading the Scarlet Hawks offense is forward graduate student, Caitie Chismarich who earned the NACC Offensive Player of the Year selection and is tied for seventeenth in the nation for total goals (18) and fourth in game-winning goals (7). She also has twelve assists and forty-eight total points on the season. Senior goalkeeper, Sarah Thomas protected the net throughout nineteen games and earned ten saves through 1,076 minutes.

About Carnegie Mellon: The No. 7 ranked Tartans earned an at-large bid after finishing second in the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference. This marks their eleventh program appearance in the NCAA tournament after finishing with an 11-2-4 record and a 4-2-1 record in the UAA. They also earned a 4-1-3 record against ranked opponents.

The Tartan offense is led by graduate student mid-fielder, Cecelia Dieterich who has tallied a UAA first-best in game-winning goals (5) while earning seven goals, five assists, and nineteen points on the season. Junior goalkeeper, Abby O’Connor holds a UAA second-best in goals against average (.575), third-best in shutouts (7), and has collected twenty-five saves through 1,095 minutes.

About Mount St. Joseph: The Lions earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2018 after winning the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament. Mount St. Joseph shut out both tournament opponents in 1-0 fashion.

The Lions offense is led by senior forward, Ella Pittman who has led the HCAC in game-winning goals (5), third in points (22), and second in goals (10) to earn an HCAC All-Tournament Team Most Valuable Player selection. Graduate student goalkeeper, Jordan Schneider protected the net for 1,344 minutes tallying fifty-seven saves to earn a HCAC first-best in goals against average (.648), shutouts (8), and save percentage (.851).

Records: Sutter topped her previous program single-season points record with sixty-six points and broke the career assist record with twenty-nine. She also stands one assist and goal behind the current single-season records.

Tournament action is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. (ET). Access the tournament hub HERE.

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