We are two weeks into the 2024 DII women’s soccer season. The top 25 is full of familiar faces, but there has been a tremendous amount of movement thus far in just three polls.
With so much fluidness in the top 25 — and many teams still finding their way — it’s a good time to check in with some of the ranked teams and see how the DII women’s soccer landscape as conference play sets to open this week.
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It’s not lonely at the top. The top 5 of DII women’s soccer has been in constant flux since the preseason poll. Preseason No. 1 Point Loma, which didn’t allow a goal in its five tournament matches en route to the national championship last year, has already allowed three goals and picked up a loss. There’s not much reason to hit the panic button, but it did see the fall from the No. 1 spot all the way to No. 17.
Grand Valley State — which should pretty much never start a season outside the top 5 but inexplicably did — is up to its Lakers’ ways and back to No. 1 in DII. The Lakers began the season with a 1-0 win over No. 9 Ashland — a rematch of the 2023 Midwest Region final that ended with the same score — and ended this past week with a 2-1 win over No. 4 Central Missouri, who held tight to the same ranking despite the loss. The Jennies have been strong as well, now 3-1 with a shutout victory over then-No. 15 Minnesota State. Caroline Cole has been on fire, scoring at least one goal in each of her first three games before being blanked by the Lakers.
No. 2 Gannon is rolling after its huge season last year. The Golden Knights finished with the second-highest win total in program history and climbed all the way to No. 5 in the rankings after beginning the season unranked. Brooklyn Respecki, last year’s PSAC West freshman of the year, already has six goals through four games, helping the Golden Knights to an undefeated start behind an 11-1 scoring margin.
Colorado School of Mines and Mississippi College both lept into the top 5 this week. The Orediggers are an impressive 4-0, winning their games by a combined score of 10-1. Reese McDermott is off to a hot start with four goals, but reigning RMAC freshman of the year Bella Campos is up to her old tricks, already recording two goals and two assists. The Choctaws are a perfect 3-0-0 thus far, including a win over then-ranked Nova Southeastern on the road on opening day. Eduarda Silva, M/D, and Karah Boydstun, F, have already picked up GSC honors this season with Silva earning the player of the week nod and Boydstun earning freshman of the week.
Lenoir-Rhyne has a lot of experience back, but Joanna Fennema takes the helm in her first year as head coach. The former North Carolina Tar Heel is no stranger to winning and has the Bears off to a lossless start, sitting at 2-0-2 after the first two weeks of play. Somehow, the Bears dropped from No. 3 to No. 13 this week, which they obviously took personally. Shortly after the rankings were released, they won a nationally ranked battle, defeating No. 24 Florida Tech 3-2 on Tuesday.
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Tournament-bound teams surging? No. 9 Catawba had a historic 2023, setting the program record for wins, going farther than it ever had in the DII tournament, and claiming the first national No. 1 ranking in any sport in Catawba history. With a slew of returners back — including SAC freshman of the year Bree Ehmer and four-time All-SAC Helen Summerell — the Indians are looking for more. Thus far, they are on the right track, starting off 2-0-2 with a win against then-ranked Embry-Riddle to open the season.
Tampa is 30-34-17 over the past five seasons. However, after starting the season with three-straight shutouts, including a 3-0 victory over then-No. 12 Lee, the Spartans are sitting at an impressive 3-0-1 with nary a goal allowed. The goal-scoring has been spread out as six different Spartans have found the back of the net. Aidan Smith has been on fire in net with 14 saves and four shutouts. The Spartans are in the top 10 of DII women's soccer — not too shabby for being picked seventh in the SCC this preseason.
Kutztown and McKendree are surging as well. The Golden Bears, who made it to the second round of the tournament last year, jumped six spots, landing in the top 10 at No. 8. They are a perfect 4-0-0, outscoring their opponents 10-1, with a shutout against then No. 20 Charleston (WV) under their belts. Isabella Rossetti (four goals) and Corinne Morgan (three goals) have handled the bulk of the scoring. McKendree, another 2023 DII tournament team, jumped six spots as well, landing at No. 18. The Bearcats had a 3-0-0 week, are now undefeated through five games and are the only GLVC team in the top 25. Anna Stiffler is red hot having scored a goal in each of her last four games.
Goal powered. The old adage is “defense wins championships.” There is also a saying that the best defense is a good offense. That seems to be, yet again, what teams like Columbus State live by.
The No. 6-ranked Cougars, who have finished in the top 3 of DII women’s soccer scoring offense in each of the past three seasons, are at it once again. Columbus State is 4-0, having outscored its opponents 17-1 thus far, once again, second in DII women's soccer in scoring offense with 4.25 goals per game. Emma Beddow, second in active career goal scorers, is leading the team in points with two goals and four assists, but Sarah Hungerford leads the Cougars with three goals. Columbus State started the season surprisingly low at No. 24, but has quickly begun its ascent once again.
Concordia (CA) has only played two games, but the Eagles' offense has been cruising. They have outscored their opponents 7-0 and their 3.5 goals per game is in the top 5 of DII women's soccer, the only other top-25 team to crack the top-5 along with Columbus State. Hailey Havican is leading the way with two goals while Bella Barrett has already assisted thrice in two matches.
Welcome to the party. If you are ranked in the bottom half of the top 25, good luck hanging around. For the second week in a row, more than a handful of teams are jumping into the rankings after not being mentioned the week prior as this week sees seven new teams enter the mix.
No. 19 Concordia (CA) is one of those teams and its California neighbor Cal Poly Pomona jumps from receiving votes all the way to No. 8. Now 4-0, the Broncos defeated Point Loma last week and have a mere one goal this season. Last year's national runners-up Washburn is back in the rankings, bouncing back with two wins after a surprising 0-2 start to the season. East Stroudsburg debuts at No. 21 after its 3-0 start including a 1-0 win this weekend over No. 19 West Chester. West Florida is 1-0-1 against nationally ranked teams and a perennial DII tournament squad but has somehow been overlooked all season in the polls. Not anymore — the Argos come in at No. 23. Florida Tech debuted at No. 24 after its big road win against then-No. 22 North Georgia, but with the Tuesday loss to Lenoir-Rhyne, we'll see if the Panthers can stick around. Cal State LA, which hasn't lost yet and tied Point Loma in its last outing, rounds out this week's newcomers, jumping in at No. 25.
