University of Chicago (Ill.) Regional Website

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse soccer team is set to make its eighth appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. The Eagles, 18-2-1 on the season, face 24th-ranked St. Catherine University (Minn.) in the NCAA Division III First Round on Saturday, November 15. Game time is 1:30 p.m. at the University of Chicago's (Ill.) Stagg Grass Field. St. Catherine (Minn.) enters the contest at 17-3 overall.

Seventh-ranked Chicago (Ill.) hosts UW-Superior in the other first round match-up at 11 a.m. on November 15. Chicago (Ill.) is 12-2-3 on the season while UW-Superior is 11-7-4.

The winners of the first round games will play in the second round Sunday, November 16 at 1 p.m.

UWL 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.  Sera Speltz gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead over the Pioneers at 33:35 off Monica Wawrzyn's assist. UWL extended the lead to 2-0 at 81:38 on Ella Opie's goal and Jillian Sawadski's assist. Summer Nicolai earned the shutout victory, registering two saves.

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 in the last meeting between the teams.
Aubree Caya leads UWL in goals (23), points (53), shots (88), shots on goal (55) and game-winning goals (4). Her 23 goals, 53 points and 88 shots are single-season school records. Sawadski leads the team in assists (12) while ranking second in points (34) and third in goals (11) while 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). Sawadski's 12 assists are tied for second in single-season school history.
Nicoali is 16-2-1 on the season with a 0.56 goals against average. 

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, earning its fifth straight appearance.  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 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.

UWL has set single-season school records in goals (98), assists (87) and points (283) this year. 

St. Catherine (Minn.) earned an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Division III Championships after falling, 1-0, to Carleton College (Minn.) in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament title game. The Wildcats earned a 2-1 win over Augsburg University (Minn.) in the tournament semifinals.

Two of St. Catherine's (Minn.) three losses this season have come to Carleton (Minn.). Along with the 1-0 loss in the conference tournament championship, the Wildcats fell, 1-0, to the Knights during the regular season. St. Catherine's (Minn.) other loss came to Emory University (Ga.), 2-0. Emory (Ga.) is currently ranked second in NCAA Division III.

The Wildcats, ranked first in the United Soccer Coaches Region IX, are led in scoring by Bella Meier with 10 goals, eight assists and 28 points. Natalie Pfleger is second in goals (9) and points (19) while Ashley Fugitt is third in goals (7) and points (15). Emily Olson is second for St. Catherine (Minn.) in assists (6).

Brianna Valdez is 17-3 in goal with a 0.36 goals against average.

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.