Here is the United Soccer Coaches pre-season poll - August's 4, 2026: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/
Obviously, this just shows where the teams finished in the standings at the end of the 2025 season and there will be a lot of shuffling over the first few weeks, but I can't help but feel like a kid about a week before Christmas!
Just a little over a week until the 2026 season begins!
Here's the SimpleCoach pre-season Top 25:
Rank School
1 WashU
2 Emory
3 Chicago
4 Tufts
5 Messiah
6 Case Western
7 Williams
8 Wesleyan CT
9 MIT
10 Pomona-Pitzer
11 Colby
12 Johns Hopkins
13 Carnegie Mellon
14 WI La Crosse
15 Middlebury
16 Cal Lutheran
17 Calvin
18 Misericordia
19 Amherst
20 Swarthmore
21 Christopher Newport
22 NYU
23 Washington & Lee
24 Rochester NY
25 Rowan
You can see his explanation of the rankings on his YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orbZH-09kFk
Preseason thoughts on 1-5: Wash U
Wash U should definitely be #1 preseason, and I would agree with Simple Coach that until proven otherwise, the national championship is theirs to lose. Having won in '24 and '25 they are going for the very rare 3-pete. The only team to have ever done that in d3 women's soccer was UC San Diego who won three in row from 1995 through1997 (1997 would be UC San Diego's 5th and final D3 national championship because in 2000 they would switch to division 2).
For Wash U to repeat, they are going to have to fill the holes left by 2-time All American Grace Ehlert and All American Ella Koleno. Ehlert was second in goals scored on the team (with 14) behind Olivia Clemons, the National Player Of The Year for 2025 (17 goals scored). Meanwhile, Koleno led the team in assists last year with 11 while also scoring 9 goals (good enough for a tie for 3rd on the team). Interestingly, Clemons won the NPOTY while mostly coming off the bench (she did start in 3 games). I'm not sure there has ever been a NPOTY that wasn't a starter in a majority of games (baring any injury issues).
I would expect nothing else then Coach Conlon will have players ready to step into those roles and so Wash U is the team to beat in D3 Women's Soccer.
Preseason thoughts on 1-5: Emory/University of Chicago
Here (fwiw) I would put Chicago as the #2 and then Emory as the #3.
Who can forget the incredible final four game last year between Wash U and U of Chicago! In my opinion, that game was the best game in all D3 for 2025. It was finally decided in the 14th round of penalty kicks and Wash U came out on top after Chicago had three chances to end the game if they were able to convert their penalty kick!
Chicago definitely played Wash U tougher than Emory, tying them at that end of the regular season (albeit Wash U had already locked up the UAA championship) and then pushed them to the absolute brink in Salem VA. That is really my only rationale for putting them ahead of Emory preseason.
Chicago lost 6 players to graduation and Emory lost 7, but Emory did retain all their top scorers from last season. However, they (Emory) lost their All American center back and All American goalkeeper. For Chicago they have to replace their All American midfielder Kerrigan who was second on the team in goals scored with 8 and their senior goalkeeper Sasaki.
Preseason thought on 1-5: Tufts/Messiah
Here (again fwiw) I would put Messiah at #4 and Tufts at #5
The only reason I move Tufts below Messiah is because Tufts have such huge cleats to fill with Elsi Aires graduating! She is a 3-time All American and led the Tufts in goals scored for the past three years (she was tied for 1st in goals last year with Reese Birch who is returning as a senior).
BUT, the exciting news here is that we will find out who should be ahead of who in the rankings in just 2 weeks! On September 5th, Messiah will play Tufts at a neutral site (Purchase College in Purchase, NY). It will be Messiah's second game of the season and Tufts first game of the season. This is by far the must see game of week 1 in division 3 women's soccer!
Messiah is going to start their season with an away game against Penn State – Harrisburg (too many interesting story lines to this game to list here) who made it to the sweet 16 last year, then they face Tufts at a neutral site, and then go to Shoemaker field for their home opener against Johns Hopkins. Talk about having to come out the gate fast!
I hope that the CWRU ladies produce a serious contender this season. Last year's second round loss was hugely disappointing.
It looks like we have a great goalkeeper and a few graduate students that can light it up!
Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on August 25, 2026, 10:10:55 AMI hope that the CWRU ladies produce a serious contender this season. Last year's second round loss was hugely disappointing.
It looks like we have a great goalkeeper and a few graduate students that can light it up!
I totally get being disappointed that they got knocked out in the second round of the tournament, but they were really quite a strong team last year!
Both of their losses (each by one goal) and one of their ties came against 3 teams that were all in the final four last year. Unfortunately, they had the bad penalty kick result against Swarthmore, but it would not be a big shock if they end up in Columbus this year.
Can't believe we are down to one week until the season begins!
Next Tuesday (by my quick count), there will be 162 games played in D3 Women's Soccer to kick off the 2026 season. I don't think there are any "live" games before September 1st (next Tuesday), I think any games scheduled before that are scrimmages, but I could be wrong on that.
T minus 4 days!
(everything below is based on the USC/IWSOC National - Pre-season Poll - August 4, 2026: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/)
Here are the teams in the top 25 that begin their season on Tuesday, September 1st:
#21 Carnegie Mellon @ St Francis 4pm
#3 University of Chicago vs Kalamazoo 5pm
#25 Christopher Newport vs Methodist 5pm
#11 Case Western vs John Carroll 5pm
#12 Mary Washington @ Randolph-Macon 6pm
#5 Messiah @ #23 Penn State - Harrisburg 7pm ***
#15 Johns Hopkins vs Catholic 7pm
#8 MIT vs Gordon 7pm
#19 University of Rochester vs Houghton 7pm
#17 Calvin @ Wheaton (IL) 7pm
#20 Misericordia @ Susquehanna 7pm
#7 Washington & Lee @ Southern Va. 7pm
#1 Wash U vs Greenville 8pm
#6 Pomona-Pitzer @ Redlands 10:30pm **
** conference game
*** only game on September 1st with two top 25 teams playing each other
Below are the remaining 10 teams in the top 25 that do not begin their season on September 1st (and the date of their first game of the season):
#14 California Lutheran vs Concordia (TX) 9/3
#2 Emory @ Transylvania 9/4
#13 Swarthmore vs Skidmore 9/4
#24 Colby @ Bowdoin 9/4 **
#4 Tufts vs #5 Messiah (neutral site) 9/5 ***
#9 Middlebury @ Wesleyan (CT) 9/5 **
#10 Williams vs Bates 9/5 **
#16 Carleton @ North Central (IL) 9/5
#18 Rowan vs Pratt 9/5
#22 Amherst vs Connecticut Col. 9/5 **
** conference game
*** second game of the year with two top 25 teams playing each other and the highest rated matchup of week 1
T minus 3 days!
So at the beginning of the 2026 season, according to the preseason poll, here are the conferences (and the number of teams in each conference) that are represented in the top 25:
UAA (6)
NESCAC (5)
Centennial (2)
SCIAC (2)
C2C (2)
MAC-Commonwealth (1)
MAC-Freedom (1)
ODAC (1)
NEWMAC (1)
MIAC (1)
MIAA (1)
NJAC (1)
United East (1)
Something to think about - in the 2026 final regular season USC poll, what is a conference that wasn't included above that will make it into the top 25?
I would guess Liberty League. The top teams in that league play some quality games outside their conference and with Vassar, William Smith, RIT, and Skidmore one of these teams may be able to get into the top 25 by the end of the regular season.
T minus 2 days!
Last year there were four first team All Americans that were not seniors (out of 13 total) and will therefore be playing again this year for their respective schools. Three of the four are on teams in the preseason top 25:
1. Kaitlyn Nimmer (F), Emory (senior this year)
2. Vivian Rojas Collins (D), Pomona-Pitzer (senior this year)
3. Olivia Clemons (F), Wash U (junior this year)
The one returning first team All American that is not playing on a team in the top 25 is:
4. Aubree Caya (F), Wisconsin-La Crosse (senior this year)
Crazy to think that for Olivia Clemons there is really no where up to go after her incredible 2025 season .. her team won the National Championship, she made first team All American, and she won the National Player Of The Year as a sophomore! I guess one thing she could shoot for is that in the history of NCAA D3 Women's Soccer there has only been one player to win two NPOTY awards during their career. Olivia Clemons has at least a chance to match that or maybe even exceed it if she would win NPOTY again in her junior and senior years.
By the way, the only d3 female player to have one two NPOTY awards during their collegiate career was Amanda Naeher (F) from Messiah in her sophomore and senior years (2008 & 2010). If that name sounds familiar, it is because her sister, Alyssa Naeher, was the GK for the US Women's National Team.
T minus 1 day!
I was looking at the coaches of the top 5 teams in the preseason poll and was amazed at what I found.
Below are each of the coaches for Wash U, Emory, Chicago, Tufts, and Messiah and how many years they have coached at that school (including the 2026 season):
1. Wash U: Jim Conlon - 18th season (not consecutive - 2008 to 2020 and 2022 to present)
2. Emory: Sue Patberg - 22nd season (2005 to present)
3. Chicago: Amy Howley Reifert - 36th season!! (1991 to present)
4. Tufts: Martha Whiting - 28th season (1999 to present)
5. Messiah: Scott Frey - 27th season (2000 to present)
Here are links to all of their bio's: (Amy Howley Reifert - good grief - look at all the records and accolades)!
1. Jim Conlon: https://washubears.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/jim-conlon/322
2. Sue Patberg: https://emoryathletics.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/sue-patberg/473
3. Amy Howley Reifert: https://athletics.uchicago.edu/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/amy-howley-reifert/886
4. Martha Whiting: https://gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/martha-whiting/1359
5. Scott Frey: https://gomessiah.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/scott-frey/3412
When Messiah and Tufts play each other this Saturday there will be 55 years of combined coaching experience on the sidelines.
By the way, the one year that Coach Conlon took a break from coaching Wash U, he went to division 2 Grand Valley State University and coached the women's team to a National Championship for division 2!
T minus 0 days - the 2026 season begins!
At noon today the games start counting. So many story lines to be discovered.
Good luck to whatever team you root for unless they are playing the team I root for, then not so much! ;D
Quote from: CentPA on September 01, 2026, 08:10:30 AMT minus 0 days - the 2026 season begins!
At noon today the games start counting. So many story lines to be discovered.
Good luck to whatever team you root for unless they are playing the team I root for, then not so much! ;D
20 minutes and counting!
Smith v. UMass Boston
T minus 10 minutes!
And it begins!!!
0-0 score at half time in the first game of the season between Smith College (NEWMAC) at U Mass Boston (Little East).
Now at 1pm a couple more games join the 2026 season:
St John Fisher at Clarkson
Eastern Conn St at St Joseph's
Watching the Kalamazoo at Chicago game and the Hornets scored first on a corner kick then Chicago tied it on a corner kick then went up 2-1 on a corner kick before going up 3-1 on a run of play goal all before the water break!
Penn State - Harrisburg scores first against Messiah and takes a 1-0 lead at the water break.
Messiah ties it with 33 minutes left.
#5 Messiah ends up with a tie 1-1 on the road against #23 Penn State - Hbg.
The only "upset" on day 1 in the top 25 was #5 Messiah tying #23 Penn State - Hbg 1-1 at Penn State. All the other top 25 teams that played yesterday won .. Wash U won by two touchdowns over Greenville (14-0)!
The next top 25 game is on Thursday (September 3rd) when #14 California Lutheran hosts Concordia (TX).
As of this posting, two top 25 teams have now lost a game this year.
Messiah, after drawing 1-1 with #23 Penn State - Hbg on Tuesday night, lost convincingly today to #4 Tufts 1-5 in Purchase, NY. Unfortunately that game wasn't shown online, but Tufts easily comes away with the win and even with their 3 time All American, Elsi Aires, graduating they don't seam to have missed a beat. I was clearly wrong when I had Messiah just ahead of Tufts in the preseason ranking order (they [Messiah] have a serious issue right now with their defense)!
With a loss and a tie, and even though Messiah has played both games against teams in the top 25 (#23 & #4), I wouldn't be surprised if Messiah finds themselves outside the top 15. Also, very uncharacteristic of Messiah, they have already given up 6 goals this year! Last year, for the entire season, they gave up 7 goals and that was including all the way up to the elite 8 game in the NCAA tournament.
The other top 25 team to have lost was #9 Middlebury who lost today to Wesleyan (CT) in their conference 1-4.
Wash U won their 2nd game of the season yesterday, but more note-worthy is that they have scored 25 goals (without conceding a goal) in two games! They were in their 7th game last year when they scored 25 goals.
They already have 6 players with multiple goals and Cami Colpitts leads the way with 4 goals in two games. The reigning NPOTY, Olivia Clemons, has two goals - both scored in yesterday's game.
Good 3-0 start for #11 ranked CWRU. Outscored John Carroll, Pacific Lutheran, and Capital by a combined 10-3 score.
Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 06, 2026, 02:06:57 PMGood 3-0 start for #11 ranked CWRU. Outscored John Carroll, Pacific Lutheran, and Capital by a combined 10-3 score.
Case Western has certainly come out of the gate strong in 2026.
Out of the six UAA teams in the top 25 of the preseason poll, only #2 Emory had a slight bump in the road with a tie (1-1) against unranked Centre College today on the road.
Wash U finishes up a busy weekend - after playing in Fulton, Missouri against Westminter College on Friday they finish up today in Indianola, Iowa playing against Simpson College. Maybe their legs were a little tired because they won today 7-0.
In the first three games of the year they have now scored 32 goals while not condeding a goal. They are currently averaging a little over 10 goals a game. Also the reigning NPOTY didn't even start in today's game but came off the bench to score a goal in the second half.
CWRU women remain undefeated.
Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 10, 2026, 10:07:45 AMCWRU women remain undefeated.
More than that, they look very good. Best I've seen this program in the last 2? 3? Years?
SC.
Quote from: SimpleCoach on September 12, 2026, 10:28:34 AMQuote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 10, 2026, 10:07:45 AMCWRU women remain undefeated.
More than that, they look very good. Best I've seen this program in the last 2? 3? Years?
SC.
I would agree CWRU looked really good this year, BUT they just lost their game today to Grove City at home 0-2!
Case Western looked really "off" especially in the second half.
For the first time ever, Messiah and NYU played each other today (at Messiah) and Messiah was able to come away with their first win of the season 2-1.
No idea where Messiah is going to end up when the rankings come out this Tuesday. They are currently 1-1-2. They will definitely drop - it is just a question of how far and do they stay in the top 25.
Quote from: CentPA on September 12, 2026, 04:38:45 PMQuote from: SimpleCoach on September 12, 2026, 10:28:34 AMQuote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 10, 2026, 10:07:45 AMCWRU women remain undefeated.
More than that, they look very good. Best I've seen this program in the last 2? 3? Years?
SC.
I would agree CWRU looked really good this year, BUT they just lost their game today to Grove City at home 0-2!
Case Western looked really "off" especially in the second half.
Of course. I wont watch a game because I think... oh, they got this one... then they blow it. Typical. I think I just have to figure out how I can watch all 400+ games across all DIII so I don't miss this sort of thing....
SC.
Lost to Grove City 2-0 today though.
William Smith with a nice win today against #21 Carnegie Mellon at home 2-1.
William Smith looked really good in the first half taking a 1-0 lead into half time. Fortunately, for them, they got a early goal in the 2nd half to take a 2-0 lead and then had to hang on for the last 40 minutes as Carnegie Mellon got a goal back about 10 minutes later. Carnegie Mellon ended up out shooting William Smith 13-2 in the second half but couldn't find the equalizer.
Wash U continues to roll. They beat Elmhurst at home (senior day) 4-0.
Always enjoy listening to Jay Murray call their home games. He mentioned that Coach Conlon had to coach against his own daughter today as Courtney Conlon (senior) starts in midfield for the Bluejays. After the game, Jay will typically interview a player (senior Julia Moore today), and then interview Coach Conlon. It was interesting to hear him talk about coaching against his daughter's team and how proud he is of her.
#14 California Lutheran got upset yesterday in an away game in Texas against Texas Lutheran 0-1.
Now they have to quickly regroup as they have a tough SCIAC opening conference game against #6 Pomona-Pitzer this Wednesday. Pomona-Pitzer wants to get things turned back around as well, as they are coming off their own 0-1 loss on Friday to a tough #3 Chicago team at home.
Of course all of these rankings numbers will change on Tuesday so we'll have to see where they stand by the time they play on Wednesday.
When I went to read the recap of the California Lutheran game yesterday on their website (https://clusports.com/news/2026/9/13/womens-soccer-regals-drop-preseason-finale-to-texas-lutheran.aspx), I hesitated for a second thinking I must have clicked on a scrimmage game! The recap headline begins: Regals Drop Preseason Finale to Texas Lutheran.
#13 Swarthmore will be the last team in the preseason top 25 to see action before the first 'in season' rankings come out and the only top 25 team playing today. They travel to Lancaster Bible College for a game set to start in about 30 minutes.
Swarthmore is currently sitting at 2-1-1. Their loss came against #18 Rowan at home 1-2, and their tie was at TCNJ this past Saturday 1-1. After tonight's game, they will host Johns Hopkins this Saturday for their first conference game of the year.
Here we go .. first in season USC rankings: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/
Some thoughts:
-- surprised Messiah stayed in the top 10. Their tough schedule must have been a big factor.
-- North Central debuts at #18
-- Chicago drops a spot without a blemish on their record
-- Wesleyan the biggest mover going from NR to #6
-- The UAA conference goes from 6 teams down to 4 in the top 25 (CWRU and Carnegie Mellon exit)
-- The NESCAC conference goes from 5 teams down to 4 in the top 25 matching the UAA (Middlebury
and Amherst exit and Wesleyan comes in)
-- Vassar debuting at #10
-- William Smith back in the top 25 (at #16)
Welcome to the top 25!
#6 Wesleyan hosted #2 Tufts tonight in a top 10 matchup and suffer their first loss 0-2.
As predicted - I am going to post about North Central in this thread now!
#18 North Central (4-0-0) is hosting Wisconsin-Whitewater (4-1-0) tonight.
Just now #44 Jordan Lange for North Central scored from about 25 out into the upper left side of the net for a 1–0 lead for the Cardinals. She is currently tied for 7th in the country in total points scored.
At half time, North Central leads Wisconsin-Whitewater 1-0. The Cardinals were definitely the stronger team in the first half and lead in shots 3-1. North Central senior Jordan Lange scored the lone goal, her sixth of the season.
North Central holds on for the 1-0 win, securing their first win as a top 25 team. I will say Wisconsin-Whitewater looked a little better in the second half, but still not much of a threat.
Yesterday 11 teams exited the top 25 and therefore 11 new teams joined the top 25.
11 Teams that exited the top 25 (and their preseason ranking) are:
#9 Middlebury
#11 Case Western
#12 Mary Washington
#13 Swarthmore
#14 California Lutheran
#17 Calvin
#20 Misericordia
#21 Carnegie Mellon
#22 Amherst
#23 Penn State - Harrisburg
#25 Christopher Newport
The 11 teams to come into the top 25 (and their current ranking) are:
#6 Wesleyan
#10 Vassar
#12 Wisconsin-La Crosse
#14 TCNJ
#15 Penn State - Behrend
#16 William Smith
#18 North Central
#19 Hartford
#20 Grove City
#22 Montclair State
#25 Puget Sound
My latest top 25. (https://d3soccer.fans/sc-womens-top-25/)
SC.
Yesterday (Wednesday, 9/16) there were 10 teams in the top 25 that played a game.
None of the teams lost. However, #11 Pomona-Pitzer played to a 1-1 draw in their opening SCIAC conference game against Cal Lutheran. PP scored in the first four minutes with Cal Lutheran answering with their own goal in the 19th minute. The remaining 71 minutes would be played without a goal by either team. PP had the best chance to break the tie with 10 minutes remaining but their shot hit the post.
#5 MIT vs Bridgewater St 3-0
#8 Emory @ Berry 1-0
#9 Messiah vs McDaniel 2-1
#11 Pomona-Pitzer vs Cal Lutheran 1-1
#15 Penn State-Behrend vs Fredonia 5-1
#16 William Smith @ Suny Geneseo 2-0
#17 Johns Hopkins vs Penn State - Harrisburg 3-2
#20 Grove City vs Bethany (WV) 10-0
#23 Rochester @ Cortland 2-0
#24 Carleton @ St Scholastica 4-0
Only one top 25 team is playing today (Thursday) and that is #5 MIT as they are playing back-to-back days.
They are at home again playing Mary Hardin-Baylor at 6pm.
Mary Hardin-Baylor (out of the ASC - American Southwest Conference) made the trip up from Texas and will play MIT tonight and then they play Brandeis on Saturday before heading back to Texas.
Watching the MIT vs Mary Hardin-Baylor game. With 25 minutes left in the game, and with a 1-0 lead, MIT just subbed the entire team at once (except the GK) - 10 subs come in! I don't know that I have ever seen that. I'm sure it has happened before, but in a close game that seems unusual.??
Now with 10 minutes left, MIT brings back all 10 from the bench.
MIT gets the insurance goal with 3 minutes left 2-0
Three top 25 teams see action today (Friday):
#8 Emory hosting Christopher Newport 7pm
#12 Wisconsin-La Crosse at Mt St Joseph 5pm
#22 Montclair State at FDU-Florham 7pm
The Emory v Christopher Newport game should be a good game to keep an eye on. Christopher Newport just dropped out the top 25 but is still receiving votes and Emory has looked a little sluggish early in the season. It will be interesting to see if Emory can take care of business at home against a tough Christopher Newport team whose only loss is against #3 Washington & Lee 0-1.
Here are the conferences with multiple teams showing in the USC National - Poll 1 - September 15, 2026:
UAA: 4 teams (#1 Wash U, #4 Chicago, #8 Emory, and #23 Rochester)
NESCAC: 4 teams (#2 Tufts, #6 Wesleyan, #13 Williams, and #21 Colby)
NJAC: 3 teams (#7 Rowan, #14 TCNJ, and #22 Montclair St)
LL: 2 teams (#10 Vassar and #16 William Smith)
Emory vs Christopher Newport game just started in Atlanta (at Emory). This is the first home game for Emory this year and the first home game in over 10 months (credit to Will Hopkins - the play-by-play announcer)!
Mid way through the first half Emory with a small advantage in stats and possession - no score.
Temperatures must be high in Atlanta - they stopped play for a hydration break. Score is still 0-0 with Emory having an advantage in possession and stats at this point.
Half ends in the Emory v Christopher Newport game at 0-0. Emory is leading in possession and stats with 8-2 in shots with 2-1 on goal. I would say most of the play has been between the 18s.
Emory scores a goal off a corner kick 20 minutes into the second half and they now lead Christopher Newport 1-0.
Christopher Newport scores the equalizer with a shot from just inside the left corner of the 18 into the far side of the goal from #5 McKenna Kolasch with just under 11 minutes left in the game!
Christopher Newport finds a way to come up with a draw at Emory 1-1 despite trailing in possession and stats! Shots were 19-5 in favor of Emory.
Quote from: CentPA on September 18, 2026, 08:08:03 AMThree top 25 teams see action today (Friday):
#8 Emory hosting Christopher Newport 7pm
#12 Wisconsin-La Crosse at Mt St Joseph 5pm
#22 Montclair State at FDU-Florham 7pm
The Emory v Christopher Newport game should be a good game to keep an eye on. Christopher Newport just dropped out the top 25 but is still receiving votes and Emory has looked a little sluggish early in the season. It will be interesting to see if Emory can take care of business at home against a tough Christopher Newport team whose only loss is against #3 Washington & Lee 0-1.
Out of the three top 25 teams that played today, Emory tied Christopher Newport and Wisconsin-La Crosse and Montclair St both won their games 2-1.
Busy Saturday in the top 25! 22 teams in the top 25 will play today. The only three that aren't playing are the three teams (mentioned in the last post) that played yesterday.
Some of the games I'll be following:
-- The only game that involves two top 25 teams is #13 Williams @ #21 Colby in less than an hour from
now (11am) and is a NESCAC conference game to boot.
-- #10 Vassar hosting NYU at 11am. This will be Vassar's first game since joining the top 25 and it is
against a tough NYU team.
-- #1 Wash U hosting UC Santa Cruz as part of a weekend tournament at Olympic Field at 2pm EDT. Just
want to see if Wash U keeps doing Wash U things.
-- #9 Messiah at Misericordia. Messiah needs to win this game to even remotely justify being in the
top 10 at this point. They are coming of back to back wins against NYU and McDaniel so we will see.
At half time Williams and Colby are tied 0-0. Williams showing the better of possession and lead in all the stats: 5-1 in shots, 1-0 in shots on goal, and 2-1 on corners. Most of the play has been on Colby's side of the field at this point.
Vassar and NYU are tied at the half as well 0-0. Vassar is leading in the stats: 9-4 in shots and 5-1 in shots on goal.
Colby scores with 28 minutes left to take a 1-0 lead over Williams on a shot right in front of goal by #32 Abigail Jarvi.
Tufts score the games first goal with 20 minutes left in the first half on a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead over Connecticut College.
Tufts scores again off a corner kick with 14 minutes left in the half and now lead 2-0 over Conn.
Conn gets a goal with 3 minutes left in the first half after a throw in down by Tufts goal! Tufts lead now 2-1 over Conn.
Vassar NYU game is still scoreless with 5 minutes left in the first half. Vassar has no play-by-play, just the video feed.
#21 Colby beats #13 Williams 1-0 at home. This was Williams first loss of the year.
#10 Vassar plays to a draw 0-0 at home against NYU. Both teams continue their stingy defense. Vassar has only conceded one goal this year and NYU has given up two. Unfortunately for NYU, both goals given up were in the same game against Messiah resulting in their only loss and leaves them at 2-1-2 for the year with ties against MIT and now Vassar. Vassar goes to 3-0-2 with their other tie being at Middlebury.
How about Connecticut College scoring two unanswered goals to come back and tie #2 Tufts at home. Conn scored their first goal 3 minutes before the half and then scored the equalizer 8 minutes into the second half. Then they had to hang on as Tufts out shot them 17-1 in the second half with 8 of those shots on goal. Maia Kafer saved all 8 of them to secure the draw for the Camels.
Messiah scores a goal in the second half against Misericordia (only the second goal given up this year by the cougars) and it holds up for a 1-0 win on the road. The loss will be Misericordia's first this season. So Messiah goes to 3-1-2 and Misericordia also goes to 3-1-2 for the season.
Next up for Messiah: they host #7 Rowan this Wednesday at 5pm. Rowan currently leads St Mary's (MD) at half 1-0.
Rowan gets the insurance goal with 17 minutes left on a goal by #14 Bella Moore to take a 2-0 lead on St Mary's (MD).
Suny New Paltz upsets William Smith 1-0. William Smith who just entered the top 25 may see their time in the top 25 short lived.??
William Smith has to quickly regroup because on Wednesday they will travel to face #23 Rochester of the UAA conference.
#20 Grove City held to a 0-0 draw with Saint Vincent today.
6 teams in the top 25 have a game today. 5 of them are playing back-to-back days - the only team playing today that didn't play yesterday is Wisconsin-La Crosse. (all times below are EDT)
#1 Wash U vs Rhodes 2:30pm
#2 Tufts vs Trinity 12pm
#12 Wisconsin-La Crosse @ Spalding 1pm
#13 Williams @ Bowdoin 2pm
#21 Colby vs Connecticut 11am
#25 Puget Sound vs Pacific (OR) 5:45pm
Wash U is playing Rhodes who beat DePauw yesterday in the second game of the tournament being held at Wash U. They scored the lone goal with 7 and a half minutes left in the game. That goal moved them to 6-0 this season - scoring 23 goals so far this year and they have yet to concede a goal. I'm guessing that may change today! Wash U has now scored 42 goals this year while not conceding a goal.
Tufts is back at it today against Trinity after the Jumbos played to a tie at home yesterday to Connecticut College. Conn gets to travel to Colby today to take on the Mules who were able to beat Williams yesterday and Williams will be hosting Bowdoin. So three NESCAC conference games today.
Colby takes an early lead over Conn with a goal ten minutes in. The GK for Conn, Maia Kafer, originally stopped the shot by diving to her left but the ball came loose and trickled into the goal.
Colby with the 1-0 lead over Connecticut at half time.
The Mules definately had the better possession in the first half with much of the play taking place on Conn side of the pitch. Colby had a shot hit the cross bar that would have made it 2 nil.
The Camels best opportunity came with about ten minutes left in the half when sub #3 Danica Zicha for Conn got around her defender and from half way between the left corner of the 18 and the left corner of the 6 ripped a shot that would have found the far upper corner of the net but Colby's GK, Sadie Gardner, make a leaping dive to her left to push the ball outside the goal frame.
Conn ties Colby 14 minutes into the 2nd half on what appeared to be an own goal after a great centering pass from the right side was attempting to be blocked by Colby but ends up in the back of their own net.
Colby nets the winning goal 26 minutes into the second half to secure the 2-1 win over Conn. The Mules win both games this weekend (against Williams and Conn) and will most definately be moving up on this Tuesday's ranking release.
Trinity goes up on Tufts 1-0 after converting a PK for having a player tripped in the box and now Tufts trails in a game for the first time this year!
21 minutes left in the game.
Tufts score the equalizer with 10 minutes left!
Wow Tufts a little fortunate to get the draw but end up with two ties this weekend against unranked teams albeit NESCAC teams.
#1 Wash U leading unranked Rhodes 1-0 at half in the battle of the 6 and 0 unbeatens. Wash U gets the half's only goal from #9 Olivia Clemons in the 18th minute. Rhodes gives up their first goal this year and trails for the first time this year.
I would also add that one unbeaten team is not like the other.
#2 Sophie Viscovich scores the second goal with a rocket free kick from 10 yards outside the middle of the 18 and put it in the upper left corner of the net for the 2-0 lead about 8 minutes into the second half.
#24 Emily Fox scores on a goal keeperless goal as the GK for Rhodes was way off her line and in fact out of the penalty area trying to stop Clemons. Clemons calmly sent a ball over to Fox who shot it past a lone defender on the line into the left side of the goal. Wash U now up 3-0 with 22 minutes left in the game. Clemons gets the assist.
Wash U beats Rhodes 3-0 to win their weekend tournament. I guess a positive for Rhodes is that they kept Wash U below their 7 goals per game average. ::)
The only top 25 team playing today is #18 North Central. They are at Dominican (IL) and were trailing through 62 minutes of soccer but the Cardinals got the equalizer off a corner kick in the 63 minute. The game is currently tied at 21 minutes left to play.
Freshman #11 Claire Georgees of North Central scores with 3 minutes left off a free kick about 20 yards out putting her shot inside the right post. That allows the Cardinals to go to 7-0-0 for the season. North Central was trailing with less than 30 minutes to play but was able to score two unanswered goals to come away with the win on the road.
Here is the new USC rankings: National - Poll 2 - September 22, 2026 (https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/)
Certainly there was some shuffling around with teams in the top 25, but the big news with this ranking involves the Centennial conference. Johns Hopkins drops out of the top 25 going from #17 to the second team receiving votes (RV). Meanwhile their conference foe, Swarthmore, who just beat them 1-0 in their first conference game on Saturday comes into the top 25 at #21.
Johns Hopkins was the only team to exit the top 25 and Swarthmore the only team to get added to the top 25 this week.
Busy day today (Wednesday) for the top 25! 16 of the top 25 teams see action today.
There are two games today that pit two top 25 teams against each other. One game is a matchup between top 10 teams as #6 Rowan travels to #8 Messiah for a 5pm game. The other involves #17 William Smith traveling to #22 Rochester for a 7:30pm start.
At 4pm there is a resumption of a game from September 9th that got postponed due to weather. #20 Grove City will host (RV) Carnegie Mellon with the game 10 minutes in and Carnegie Mellon up 1-0.
Another interesting game is at 7pm #3 Chicago will play at Calvin. Calvin currently sits at 4-1-0 for the year having just beaten Case Western 2-1 at home on Saturday. We'll see how well Calvin does again at home playing another UAA team. Speaking of Case Western, they play at #14 Penn State-Behrend at 6pm.
Also at 6pm, #11 University of Wisconsin - La Crosse will host North Park for the first ever meeting between these two schools. North Park has played 8 different University of Wisconsin schools and now today's game against La-Crosse will make that 9.
Out west #12 Pomona-Pitzer will be at home taking on their sixth street rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripts in a SCIAC conference matchup (7pm EDT/ 4pm local).
These are just some of the games being played today to wet your appetite. :D
Whet your appetite, not "wet". :) Good preview, though!
One correction: North Park has only played five of the eight WIAC schools in women's soccer since NPU began the program back in 1995. After tonight's contest at UW-La Crosse the Vikings will still have yet to face UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire.
Emma Woodley has certainly not shied away from having NPU play tough competition, and taking on the #11 Eagles in western Wisconsin is further proof of that. Massey Ratings gives the Vikings a mere 7% chance of winning tonight's game. I just hope that the Vikings can build upon Saturday's confidence-building steamrolling of Coe and acquit themselves well against an outstanding opponent.
#8 Messiah loses to #6 Rowan 0-1 at home.
I think with this loss Messiah may drop out of the top 25. Their record is now 3-2-2.
Good job by CWRU tying the #14 team.
Calvin continues their strong play at home! They started the year with three road games going 2-1 (their lone loss was against North Central 0-4), and now they have won three straight home games.
Yesterday they upset #3 Chicago winning the game 1-0. That is back to back home wins against UAA teams (Case Western and Chicago). If they can win their away game this Saturday against Ohio Northern, I would think they will make it back into the top 25. However, they were not even receiving any votes for the top 25 this week so we'll see. They were ranked #17 in the preseason top 25 but after their loss to North Central (unranked at the time), they dropped out in the week 1 and in this week's rankings.
I was going to hype a Friday game between what could have been two undefeateds, but Texas Lutheran suffered a monstrous 1-5 loss to Hardin-Simmons (3-2-1) last night to fall out of those ranks (6-1-0). The visiting Cowgirls outshot TLU 23-9, 10-6 in SOG, and dealt TLU their first home loss in two years. Trinity(TX) (6-0-0), who defeated HSU by the exact same score in Abilene last week, will try to avoid suffering their first loss in Seguin tomorrow night.
Sometimes in soccer you just have those games. W&L's box score against Guilford last night:
Shots
W&L 39(15)
Guilford 0(0)
Corner Kicks
W&L 16
Guilford 0
Score? 1-0 W&L, scored in the 12th minute.
They just peppered Guilford but nothing would go in. Guilford's goalie had 14 saves. It wasn't even a game, it was a shooting gallery. I wish they posted the TOP. It had to be 70-20.
Quote from: jknezek on September 24, 2026, 03:53:22 PMSometimes in soccer you just have those games. W&L's box score against Guilford last night:
Shots
W&L 39(15)
Guilford 0(0)
Corner Kicks
W&L 16
Guilford 0
Score? 1-0 W&L, scored in the 12th minute.
They just peppered Guilford but nothing would go in. Guilford's goalie had 14 saves. It wasn't even a game, it was a shooting gallery. I wish they posted the TOP. It had to be 70-20.
I'm not sure what is more noteworthy - the Guilford goalie getting 14 saves or W&L having 24 shots not on goal!?? :)
Quote from: CentPA on September 24, 2026, 05:54:41 PMI'm not sure what is more noteworthy - the Guilford goalie getting 14 saves or W&L having 24 shots not on goal!?? :)
Fair. Of course W&L beat Sweet Briar 11-0 the night before.
42(32) for W&L, 3(2) for Sweet Briar.
So maybe they were a little off their game on night 2. Not the strongest ODAC teams to open the conference season.
#5 at #4 tonight at 6pm! Tufts will make the 7 mile trip to MIT for the 15th straight year (excluding 2020) of these two teams playing each other in a non conference game.
#5 Tufts (3-0-2) is coming off two straight ties in their conference against Connecticut and Trinity (both unrated). Meanwhile, MIT at 7-0-1 finds themselves ranked at #4 in the country and on a 5 game winning streak since their lone tie at NYU back on September 5th.
Should be a good game to watch. These two teams know each other very well and it should be a highly competitive soccer match.
Quote from: CentPA on September 25, 2026, 12:17:09 PM#5 at #4 tonight at 6pm! Tufts will make the 7 mile trip to MIT for the 15th straight year (excluding 2020) of these two teams playing each other in a non conference game.
#5 Tufts (3-0-2) is coming off two straight ties in their conference against Connecticut and Trinity (both unrated). Meanwhile, MIT at 7-0-1 finds themselves ranked at #4 in the country and on a 5 game winning streak since their lone tie at NYU back on September 5th.
Should be a good game to watch. These two teams know each other very well and it should be a highly competitive soccer match.
Sorry, I forgot MIT is in the NEWMAC conference and they stream through Flo$port$! So unless you pay for a subscription no soccer for you. :(
Tufts scores 6 minutes into the game on a misplay by the MIT defense at the top right corner of the 18.
Tufts then scores a second goal off a corner kick about 22 minutes into the game to take a 2-0 lead. First time MIT has given up 2 goals in a game this year.
At half time Tufts leads MIT 2-0. I would say that MIT has had a little more of the possession in the first half but Tufts capitalized on a mistake and then banged in the ball in front of the goal on a corner kick.
Stats show MIT up 8-3 on shots but Tufts has 3 shots on goal compared to none for MIT. MIT up 2-1 on corners.
I'm back! Here is today's new top 25 poll: National - Poll 3 - September 29, 2026 (https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/)
Some thoughts on this past weekends (Friday - Sunday) games and how they impacted this weeks poll:
On Friday:
-- #5 Tufts defeated #4 MIT and now Tufts goes from 5 to 3 and MIT drops from 4 to 5.
-- Hell might have frozen over because Wash U not only gave up their first goal of the season but
gave up 2 goals in one game! :o They still won the game beating Centre 4-2 for the
ninth straight win and have now outscored their opponents 51 to 2 this year.
On Saturday:
-- #16 North Central ended up in a tie at home with unranked Illinois Wesleyan in their first CCIW
conference game. Even with the tie they now find themselves ranked #13 in the new poll!
-- #22 Rochester hosted unranked Misericordia and ended up with a 1-1 draw giving them their first
blemish of the year - they are now 7-0-1. As a result of the tie they actually went from
22 all the way up to 10!?? Misericordia is now receiving votes for the top 25.
On Sunday:
-- Sunday was pretty quiet for the top 25. Emory and Monclair State both played and won their games.
Also surprising in this new poll is that Messiah despite loosing to Rowen at home last Wednesday moves up a spot from #8 to #7! Their record is now 4-2-2. I know both of their losses are to top 5 ranked teams but still...
With yesterday's new poll, the UAA conference now has 6 (of their 8) teams in the top 25.
The only two teams in the UAA not showing up in the top 25 are Brandeis and surprisingly Case Western giving how they started out this season. CWRU won their first 4 games of the year but since then have gone 2-3-1. They open their UAA conference season at #10 Rochester this Saturday and their next two games are at #1 Wash U and hosting #21 Chicago! Case's schedule certainly isn't getting any easier!
Speaking of #21 Chicago, they lost last Wednesday to (now) #20 Calvin on the road 0-1 for their first 'non-win' this year. They are now sitting at 7-1-0, but with the one loss to Calvin, dropped from #3 to #21 .. seems a bit harsh.?? They do have a chance to bounce back and prove that they should be ranked higher today. At 4pm they host #13 North Central for their last non-conference game before they enter the UAA gauntlet (they do have one more non-conference game against Illinois Tech later in October).
Upset in the top 25:
Last night unranked Trinity (CT) hosted #6 Wesleyan (CT) in a NESCAC conference game and Trinity game away with the win 3-1! Wesleyan had just bumped up from #7 to #6 in the new poll earlier in the day.
Trinity was up 2-0 in the first half and scored another goal in the second half before Wesleyan scored their lone goal with 3 minutes left in the game. I watched the first half and would say that Wesleyan had the better possession but just didn't seem very organized in the attacking third. Trinity scored on quick runs of play after Wesleyan lost possession. The stats show that Wesleyan out shot Trinity 12-6 and shots on goal 5-3. Trinity scored on all three of their shots on goal while GK Zoe Tamborello had 4 saves.
So this is interesting ..
I went to watch the Chicago vs North Central game this afternoon and the game was never started.
When I looked at the "Schedule" page on Chicago's website it had under "vs #13 North Central (IL)" the following: "North Central women's soccer has forfeited game with refusal to play" and on the right side it read: "Game Forfeited by North Central" No further explanation that I can find.
However, when I went to North Central's "Schedule" page it simply showed the game as "Postponed"
Never saw anything like this and I'm not sure what happened.
Chicago just posted this announcement:
"CHICAGO -- The Wednesday afternoon women's soccer match between #21 UChicago and #13 North Central (IL) will not be played on Wednesday afternoon after the decision by the North Central College coaching staff that the Cardinals will not be making the trip to Hyde Park. The game will go down as a forfeit in favor of the Maroons.
Despite the rainy conditions, the University of Chicago Department of Athletics and Recreation had prepared the natural grass pitch and the artificial turf surface at Stagg Field with the expectation of playing the match as scheduled this afternoon. Unfortunately, North Central was unwilling to make the trip, resulting in the forfeit.
The University of Chicago's first-ever nationally broadcast game will now have to wait, as it was set to be the first University Athletic Association contest in league history to air live on Prime Video.
The women's soccer program will return to action this weekend as the Maroons fly to New York City for a top-25 matchup with #22 NYU in the UAA opener."
At the time I'm posting this, neither team has adjusted their YTD season results. I'm not sure what will happen to the official record for each team.
Has this ever happened before?
#10 Rochester suffered their second straight draw at home yesterday to unranked RIT out of the Liberty League conference 2-2. That is two ties to unranked teams back to back at home. After their tie to Misericordia on Saturday they went from #22 to #10 in this weeks poll so maybe after this tie they will put some pressure on their UAA foe, Wash U, for the #1 spot. :D
There was no score in the first half and then Rochester scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half and you would have thought they had the game well under control. However, RIT, who only had two shots on goal all game, scored on both of them withing six minutes of each other in the 67th and 73rd minute to tie the game up.
Neither North Central nor the CCIW has recognized last night's non-contest in Hyde Park as a forfeit loss for the Cardinals. Both NCC and the league continue to show it as a postponement on their respective websites, although North Central hasn't posted a gamer on its website explaining the postponement and updating the game with either a new date, time, and location or a TBA, as is customary in the event of a postponement.
Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 01, 2026, 01:48:20 PMNeither North Central nor the CCIW has recognized last night's non-contest in Hyde Park as a forfeit loss for the Cardinals. Both NCC and the league continue to show it as a postponement on their respective websites, although North Central hasn't posted a gamer on its website explaining the postponement and updating the game with either a new date, time, and location or a TBA, as is customary in the event of a postponement.
Chicago is definitely upset and wants the forfeit win. I am guessing that someone or some committee at the NCAA is dealing with this now to determine what will happen. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I guess if there is a forfeit win/loss that would also impact the NPI calculations even though there was no on field competition.??
Yep. In terms of forfeits a win is a win as far as the D3 Championships Committee is concerned.
As to who will adjudicate the North Central @ Chicago contretemps, that's unclear at this point. It sounds as though the facts might be in dispute regarding the agreement (or lack thereof) reached by the Cardinals and Maroons coaches last night. If it was a league game the issue could be settled by the league's commissioner, but, alas, the two teams represent two different leagues.
Here's the thing with this though as far as I can tell: Chicago can't declare this a forfeit win because NCAA rules (https://www.ncaa.org/championships/playing-rules/soccer-playing-rules/) don't allow it.
Quote from: NCAA Soccer Rule 7.6.1When a scheduled game is terminated before it begins, it is recorded as "no contest." Neither team is credited with a win or loss, regardless of the reason why the game was terminated.
Quote from: lmitzel on October 01, 2026, 04:05:34 PMHere's the thing with this though as far as I can tell: Chicago can't declare this a forfeit win because NCAA rules (https://www.ncaa.org/championships/playing-rules/soccer-playing-rules/) don't allow it.
Quote from: NCAA Soccer Rule 7.6.1When a scheduled game is terminated before it begins, it is recorded as "no contest." Neither team is credited with a win or loss, regardless of the reason why the game was terminated.
This will certainly be a no contest and the only way this ends as anything else is if they actually make up the game. Rules are clear on that.
This forfeit stance makes UChicago look silly in a situation that, from all I have heard, I think NCC is the bigger transgressor.
Quote from: lmitzel on October 01, 2026, 04:05:34 PMHere's the thing with this though as far as I can tell: Chicago can't declare this a forfeit win because NCAA rules (https://www.ncaa.org/championships/playing-rules/soccer-playing-rules/) don't allow it.
Quote from: NCAA Soccer Rule 7.6.1When a scheduled game is terminated before it begins, it is recorded as "no contest." Neither team is credited with a win or loss, regardless of the reason why the game was terminated.
Exactly. But the possibility did exist that the NCC coach might have agreed to accept a forfeit in his conversation with his U of C counterpart -- or that the Maroons coach may have interpreted it that way -- which is why I was noncommittal.
Quote from: ziggy on October 01, 2026, 06:15:52 PMThis will certainly be a no contest and the only way this ends as anything else is if they actually make up the game. Rules are clear on that.
This forfeit stance makes UChicago look silly in a situation that, from all I have heard, I think NCC is the bigger transgressor.
It appears to me to be a great big he said / she said, and since the NCAA rules back up the "he said" (i.e., North Central) unless there is some sort of proof that he agreed to a forfeit, the game is most likely going to end up as a simple cancelation with no penalty ascribed to NCC.
I don't know who the bigger transgressor is (you might have inside info that I don't, Zac), or if there even is a transgression rather than two people completely misunderstanding each other, but I do agree that the U of C looks silly because of that press release. Heck, even though the online Maroons schedule indicates the forfeit, neither it nor the Maroons stats page records the forfeit win. Both show the U of Chicago women's soccer team with a 7-1 record, not 8-1. Same with the UAA website, which shows no result for last night's phantom soccer match.
The Maroons' SID and/or AD or someone else there was probably pissed off because this was supposed to be the first (D3?) women's soccer match featured on Flo's free Amazon Prime Video channel - somewhere in the socials they posted about that. But there's no excuse for acting like a bunch of five-year olds and lying about what the end result will be.
Go to https://www.chicagoandnorthcentralkerfuffle.com/ for continuing coverage of this non-event. Yes, that is a real site courtesy of Scott Peterson of The D3 Stat Lab (https://thed3statlab.com/).
Quote from: Ron Boerger on October 01, 2026, 10:51:19 PMThe Maroons' SID and/or AD or someone else there was probably pissed off because this was supposed to be the first (D3?) women's soccer match featured on Flo's free Amazon Prime Video channel - somewhere in the socials they posted about that. But there's no excuse for acting like a bunch of five-year olds and lying about what the end result will be.
Go to https://www.chicagoandnorthcentralkerfuffle.com/ for continuing coverage of this non-event. Yes, that is a real site courtesy of Scott Peterson of The D3 Stat Lab (https://thed3statlab.com/).
The information on that link page is incredible - good job whoever put that together (Scott Peterson?)!
There does seem to be something not right when a team can decide to not show up for a scheduled game because they decide the rain is too much and not suffer any consequences to their record/results. As was mentioned on the link page, they actually could potentially benefit from not showing up in how the NPI calculations play out. I don't think that is the case with this matchup but imagine a team fighting for a top 8 spot in the NPI playing a mid to late October non conference game against a weak opponent where it is really a "no-win" situation. If they win they'll throw the game out of the NPI calculations (assumes they are at 8 wins already) but heaven forbid they come away with a tie or loss because it will crush their NPI. They would be better off to say "it looks like too much rain" and just not show up.
This is the new reality of NPI. If a team, North Central, decides that playing another team, UChicago, is not in their best interest for NPI ranking, then they can just pull out. Soccer is played in the rain everywhere, not thunder and lightning but definitely rain. There was a turf field as a back-up option so there is no reason this game couldn't be played. With the new world of NPI and being able to calculate the value of a contest even before playing it, this will become more common. Gone are the days where a contract between two schools in D3 means anything. This same thing happened last year in the nescac. On the men's side, I won't mention who, a team cancelled a game within their season because win, lose or tie, it was going to hurt their NPI so they just dropped it. They then picked up a different team within the season. Unless the NCAA looks at this and says that once schedules are set, that a game that is not agreed upon by both schools as being a non-contest, should count as a forfeit this will become more commonplace.
Good point, and I suspect that next year's D3 convention will see a proposed amendment to the rulebook that will contain your suggestion or something like it in order to prevent mid-season cancelations that were motivated by NPI.
BTW, thanks to Scott Peterson at the D3 Stat Lab for really getting into the weeds with that research. I learned a lot that will help me out if I ever have to explain a similar situation when I'm on the air.
You have to love October Saturday's in D3 soccer! Based on the NCAA scores page, there are 181 games being played today which means that more than 82% of teams in D3 women's soccer will see action today.
For the first time this season ALL teams in the top 25 will be playing on the same day. Maybe even more noteworthy, there are no non-conference games involving the top 25 - they are all playing conference games today!
There are two games involving top 25 teams where both opponents are in the top 25. As you can probably guess, with the UAA conference having 6 of 8 teams in the top 25, both games are matchups between UAA teams. This afternoon (1:30pm EDT), #9 Emory will be hosting #23 Carnegie Mellon. Then this evening (8:30pm), #22 NYU will be hosting #21 Chicago. The other UAA games today are #1 Wash U traveling to Brandeis (2:30pm), and #10 Rochester hosting Case Western (7:30pm). Rochester is looking to put an end to two straight ties at home while Case Western looks to turn a corner and get back into the top 25.
One of the early games today is at 11am. #13 North Central travels to Elmhurst for their second conference game this year. The weather around Chicago looks good so hopefully this game will take place (sorry I couldn't help myself :) )
The NESCAC is busy as well. At 11am, #6 Wesleyan is at (RV) Hamilton, and #8 Colby is at (RV) Middlebury. At 12pm, #3 Tufts is at Amherst, and then at 1:30pm, #18 Williams is hosting Connecticut.
Too many games to highlight them all. If you love D3 women's soccer and watching top 25 teams play, you could be busy from 11am this morning to around 10:30pm this evening (and you will need multiple screens)!
The CWRU women succeeded where the men failed, taking down #10 Rochester on the road.
Maybe they can break into the Top 25 next week.
Good game to pay attention to today:
#1 Wash U that traveled to Boston yesterday to play their conference game against Brandeis decided to take advantage of the trip to Massachusetts and have another game today in the region!
At 12 noon #1 Wash U will face off against #5 MIT
I love that the coaches got together and agreed to this non conference game bringing two really good teams together. This will be the toughest test for Wash U since the end of last year.
The first official NCAA NPI rankings are out: through games 10/04/26 (https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/52829)
Huge differences at this point in the year between the USC top 25 and the NPI rankings!
Quote from: CentPA on Yesterday at 12:30:28 PMThe first official NCAA NPI rankings are out: through games 10/04/26 (https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/52829)
Huge differences at this point in the year between the USC top 25 and the NPI rankings!
The USC is pretty useless. I miss the old d3soccer.com poll. Big NPI points difference between 3 and 4. The NPI on the top 3 is just huge right now.
How about North Central sitting at #1 in the NPI (even ahead of Wash U) .. it can pay to not play!
Quote from: CentPA on Yesterday at 12:45:18 PMHow about North Central sitting at #1 in the NPI (even ahead of Wash U) .. it can pay to not play!
The only team that has a chance of finishing ahead of Washington University is Tufts. The worst team in the UAA would be the third best in the CCIW.
Quote from: CentPA on Yesterday at 12:30:28 PMThe first official NCAA NPI rankings are out: through games 10/04/26 (https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/52829)
Huge differences at this point in the year between the USC top 25 and the NPI rankings!
Comment I made on the men's soccer board applies here:
FYI, the NCAA erroneously included Azusa Pacific and Saint Francis in these rankings (a problem common to other sports NPIs released today). As first year provisionals, there is no question they should not appear in the rankings and they should not be a countable opponent. Second year provisionals JWU Charlotte and Regent were correctly excluded.
Quote from: ziggy on Yesterday at 01:55:19 PMQuote from: CentPA on Yesterday at 12:30:28 PMThe first official NCAA NPI rankings are out: through games 10/04/26 (https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/52829)
Huge differences at this point in the year between the USC top 25 and the NPI rankings!
Comment I made on the men's soccer board applies here:
FYI, the NCAA erroneously included Azusa Pacific and Saint Francis in these rankings (a problem common to other sports NPIs released today). As first year provisionals, there is no question they should not appear in the rankings and they should not be a countable opponent. Second year provisionals JWU Charlotte and Regent were correctly excluded.
Thanks for posting this here - appreciate it!
The Wash U / MIT game yesterday was fairly competitive with Wash U winning at MIT 2-1. The stats show Wash U leading in shots 16-9 and SOG 9-5 and the corners were tied 3-3. Yesterday's stats were very similar to their meeting last year in the sweet 16 (at Messiah University) with Wash U winning 1-0. In that game Wash U led in shots 15-9 and SOG 8-4 but MIT led in corners 7-4 in that game.
I watched the last 15 minutes live (on Flo$port$) at a restaurant on my phone. For a brief moment, I saw the team in the red kits dominating the team in the white kits and assumed Wash U was kind of having their way late in the game. It wasn't long until I realized that MIT was in the red kits and Wash U was wearing the 'home' white kits! For those last 15 minutes, MIT had more of the possession and the most dangerous chances with Lanthier making a really good save to keep MIT from tying the game.
Later I watched the entire game on replay (might as well get my money's worth) and clearly in the first half Wash U was the better team with possession. However, their first goal was scored on a corner kick that bounced around in front of MIT's goal and found the foot of triple M (Monica Morales-Martinez). Late in the half MIT would find the equalizer on a great (and quick) run of play goal down the right side with a really nice cross and finish by Chloe Dai to Amara Ukomadu.
Wash U would score the winning goal on a penalty kick after Colpitts was taken down in the box and Viscovich would score the goal and Wash U would go on for the 2-1 win.
Coach Conlon would get a yellow card late in the game for arguing with the ref on a foul call. It is the first yellow card all year for Wash U. Interestingly, it was against MIT last year that Coach Conlon got his only yellow card in 2025! I don't know if it has something to do with MIT or if it is just a coincidence :)
I think the only way Wash U doesn't win their 3rd straight National Championship is if they 'trip up' in the sweet 16, elite 8, final 4, or championship game.
They'll make the NCAA tournament without a doubt. I know there is a lot of soccer to be played yet but I can't imagine a scenario where Wash U isn't playing in the second weekend of the tournament. After that, as long as they play their A game, I don't know that anyone can beat them. However, if they have a down game past that first weekend then I do think they could loose given the competition at that stage.
The team has so much talent at every position on the field and a deep bench to go with it! Right now they have 18 players (yes 18) that have scored a goal this season with 11 players that have multiple goals! Oh and besides scoring 57 goals in 11 games, they have only given up 3 goals all year.
Schools in the NPI top 25 (reflecting results through Sunday), not in the USC top 25:
| School | Record | NPI Rank |
| Trinity(TX) | 6-0-0 | 8 |
| Carleton | 7-1-0 | 9 |
| Vassar | 5-0-3 | 14 |
| Batten | 8-0-2 | 15 |
| Puget Sound | 8-0-1 | 22 |
| CNU | 6-1-3 | 23 |
Here is the new USC poll: National - Poll 4 - October 6, 2026 (https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-women/)
No change in the top 5 but Wesleyan goes from #6 to basically #26 being the first team mentioned for receiving votes. Their two straight road losses to Trinity (CT) and Hamilton really dropped them in the rankings.
Batten, Hamilton, and Trinity (TX) enter the top 25 at #20, #23, and #25 respectively.
Besides Wesleyan, Montclair who was #25 dropped out and North Central who was #13 dropped out. North Central is interesting because since last weeks poll they only had one tie to Illinois Wesleyan and the "postponed" game against Chicago .. does the USC know something we don't or are they dinging North Central for the no show.?? To go from #13 to #35 (last team reported receiving votes) on your first blemish of the year, a 2-2 tie, seems a little rough.