Women’s soccer to face St. Catherine in NCAA First Round

INDIANOLA, Iowa – The Simpson College women's soccer team is set to face St. Catherine in the first round of 2023 NCAA Division III Championship in La Crosse, Wis.

The Storm are making their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since qualifying in 1999. Simpson went 1-1 in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, defeating Grinnell 3-0 in the opening round before dropping out with a 5-0 loss to Macalester.

The winner of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, St. Catherine is aiming for its first NCAA Tournament victory since beating Wis.-Superior 4-0 in 2021. Last season, the Wildcats were eliminated by Washington-St. Louis in the first round.

No. 11 Wis.-La Crosse (17-1-1) and Wis.-Superior (16-5-1) will square off in the first game of the day beginning at 1 p.m. Both the Eagles and Yellowjackets secured automatic bids to this year's championship.

NCAA DIII TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
St. Catherine (16-3-1) vs. Simpson (15-2-2)
Saturday, Nov. 11 | 3:30 p.m.
Veteran Memorial Field Sports Complex | La Crosse, Wis.
Live Video | Live Stats
NCAA Championship Program

WHAT'S AT STAKE
The winners of Saturday's two games will advance to play each other in the round of 32 on Sunday. The game is slated to begin at 3 p.m.

SERIES NOTES
Simpson and St. Catherine first played each other in 2009, with Simpson earning a 1-0 victory. The Storm were victorious two years later by a score of 2-0, but the Wildcats have won all five matchups since, including a 4-1 win the last time the two squads met in 2022.

ABOUT THE STORM

• Simpson is currently on a five-game unbeaten streak.
• The Storm's only two losses this season are to Loras (2-0) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (1-0), two programs also competing in the national tournament.
• Eleven players have scored for Simpson this fall led by Cassie Nash with 19. Jordyn Foelske, Maddie Hays, Ally Hoffa and Brissa Valadez have all contributed four goals to rank second on the team.
• Nash also leads the team in assists with 10, while Foelske has helped five goals.
• Simpson has outscored opponents 47-11 through 19 games. The Storm are 14-0-1 when scoring first as well as 14-0-0 when converting multiple goals.
• The Storm defense has posted 10 shutouts this season.
• Lani Mears (8-2-1) and Meredith Downs (7-0-1) have split time between the posts, combining for an 0.57 goals against average and .875 save percentage.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS

• St. Catherine carries an seven-game unbeaten streak into the game, last losing to Carleton (2-1) on Oct. 7. The Wildcats also were defeated by Pomona-Pitzer (1-0) and Loras (2-0) this season.
• The Wildcats captured the MIAC's automatic bid by winning the tournament title for the third consecutive season, avenging their regular season loss to Carleton with a 1-0 victory in the championship.
• Senior goalkeeper Kate Praetz has not allowed a goal in over 300 minutes and leads the nation with 14 shutouts.
• Offensively, the Wildcats have outscored opponents 46-8. Twelve players have found the back of the net, including Ari Green (15) and Amanda Elton (11) who have combined for over half of the team's goals.

STORM IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
12th - Cassie Nash, total points (48)
17th - Cassie Nash, points per game (2.53)
17th - Cassie Nash, total goals (19)
18th - Cassie Nash, shots on goal per game (2.79)
19th - Cassie Nash, total assists (10)

WILDCATS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
1st - Kate Praetz, shutouts (14)
2nd - Kate Praetz, goalie minutes played (1800:00)
6th - Kate Praetz, save percentage (0.928)
10th - Ari Green, game-winning goals (6)
14th - Kate Praetz, goals against average (0.4)