NCAA III Release

Indianapolis, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse soccer team will travel to Chicago, Illinois for the first two rounds of the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships, the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Committee announced Monday.
 
The Eagles earned an automatic bid to the 2025 national championships after capturing the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) with a 2-0 victory over UW-Platteville on Sunday, November 9 at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. 

UWL (18-2-1) will face 24th-ranked St. Catherine University, Minn. (17-3) in the first round Saturday, November 15 at 1:30 p.m. at Stagg Grass Field at the University of Chicago (Ill.). Seventh-ranked Chicago, Ill. (12-2-3) hosts UW-Superior (11-7-4) in the other first round match-up at 11 a.m. The winners of the first round games will play in the second round Sunday, November 16 at 1 p.m.

Sixty-four teams were selected for the 2025 NCAA III Championships with 43 teams earning automatic bids and 21 earning at-large selections. Sixteen four-team sites will conduct first- and second-round play on the first weekend of the championship, November 14-15 or 15-16. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites November 21-22 or 22-23. All games, except the semifinals and final, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. Winners of the four sectionals will advance to the semifinals December 4 and championship game December 6 in Salem, Virginia.   

UWL is making its eighth appearance (2015, 2017-18, 2021-25) in school history in the national championships, all coming under head coach Jason Murphy. The Eagles are 11-5-4 in NCAA Division III Championship history.  Murphy, in his 12th season as UWL's head coach, has guided the Eagles to seven (2015, 2017-18, 2022-25) WIAC regular-season titles and six (2017-18, 2022-25) tournament crowns.
 
The Eagles made their first trip to the national championships in 2015 and earned their first tournament win in school history with a 2-0 first round victory over The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) in 2017. UWL has advanced to the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals three times in school history (2017, 2021, 2023). The team has advanced to the third round twice (2018, 2022). UWL dropped its first round game last season, 2-1 in double overtime to Simpson College (Iowa).
 
UWL leads the all-time series, 4-1, with St. Catherine (Minn.). The Eagles earned a 1-0 double overtime victory over the Wildcats in the first round of the 2021 national championships.
 
Chicago (Ill.) leads UWL, 10-1-1, in its all-time series. The teams have met once in NCAA Division III Tournament history with the Maroons earning a 4-0 victory in the 2017 quarterfinals. Chicago (Ill.) is currently ranked seventh.
 
UWL leads UW-Superior, 24-0, all-time. The Eagles earned a 1-0 victory over the Yellowjackets in the 2023 NCAA Division III First Round.
 
UWL is ranked third in the United Soccer Coaches Region IX Poll. The Eagles captured their eighth (1996, 2015, 2017-18, 2022-25) regular season WIAC title this year with a 6-0-1 record.
 
UWL recorded its 14th shutout of the season with its victory over UW-Platteville on Sunday, tied for second-most in school history. The Eagles also had 14 shutouts in 2017 and 2022. The school record of 16 shutouts was set in 2023.

The Eagles' 18 wins this year are tied for fourth in single-season school history. UWL won a school record 21 games in 2022. The Eagles had 20 victories in 2017 and 2023 and 18 in 2018.
 
Aubree Caya leads UWL in goals (23), points (53), shots (88), shots on goal (55) and game-winning goals (4). Her 23 goals and 53 points are both single-season school records. Jillian Sawadski leads the team in assists (12) while ranking second in points (34) and third in goals (11) while Sera Speltz is second in goals (13) and third in points (32). Sawadski ranks second on shots on goal (29) and fourth in shots (45) with Speltz second in shots (50) and third in shots on goal (25). Summer Nicolai is 15-2-1 on the season with a 0.42 goals against average.
 
Caya, Sawadski, Speltz, Nicolai, Ella Opie, Allison Steeno and Monica Wawrzyn were all named to the 2025 All-WIAC First Team while Amaya Thesing earned honorable mention awards. Caya was selected the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year, Nicolai the WIAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Wawrzyn the WIAC Newcomer of the Year.