Championship Bracket (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – Similar to how the men’s bracket unfolded, there were no bracket busters in Saturday’s quarterfinal action in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship tournament.
No. 1 Findlay, No. 2 Walsh, No. 3 Cedarville and No. 4 Ohio Dominican, all used home field advantage to the best of their ability to defeat their respective opponents.
Those top four seeds prevailed to move on to the semifinals in Dayton for Thursday at Roger Glass Stadium on the campus of Chaminade Julienne High School.
But it wasn’t easy, and teams with upset on their mind certainly came in well prepared and well coached for the playoffs. The day unfolded with three matchups ending in regulation and the first shootout of the tournament, capped an exciting day to get the postseason started.
Ohio Dominican and No. 5 seed Trevecca Nazarene were the two teams in that shootout to end the night after both teams battled to a scoreless tie after 110 minutes. The Panthers had a 3-2 advantage in the PK’s as both keepers made some key stops.
It was ODU’s Cecilia Kuntz who made the decisive stop as she pounced on the final shot in the middle of the box. The ODU celebration was a memorable one as teammates poured on to the field to meet her.
Walsh had the early start going up against No. 7 seed Kentucky Wesleyan. The Cavaliers had significant gains in the most region Midwest Region rankings, climbing up to five and really putting themselves in contention for an at-large bid if they couldn’t get the AQ.
Walsh had to slow down a high-powered KWC offense keyed by the league’s leading point scorer, Madisyn Hunt. The Cavaliers were up to the task in a 1-0 final as Olivia Peters broke through in the 79th minute for the GW goal.
Regular season champion Findlay was boosted by Jayla Campbell, Sierra Peacock and Sydney Demyan, in the Oilers’ 3-0 shutout win vs. the eighth-seeded Pioneers. Findlay and Malone combined for only 16 shots total – but UF was able to make them count with all lthe scoring in the first half.
Cedarville and Ursuline went head-to-head as very familiar playoff qualifiers since the inception of the league. Ursuline was making its eighth straight conference tournament appearance.
In the end, the Yellow Jackets held on for a 2-0 win as Rachel Wiggins scored in the first minute off the opening whistle. The Arrows bounced back and were within striking distance before reigning offensive player of the week Olivia Hoffman put her team up 2-0.
Cedarville will face Walsh at noon ET in the early semifinal on Thursday while Findlay and Ohio Dominican will battle for the right to advance at 2:30 p.m. ET.