KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NAIA has announced the first and second round brackets for the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship, and No. 15 Westmont will find itself in familiar company.
The Warriors will fly to Florida for the Lakeland Bracket at Southeastern University. In the first round, Westmont will take on No. 22 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (7-4-4). The Blue Raiders and Warriors have a significant history.
The two teams first met in 2001 in the semifinals of the national tournament which Westmont won 2-1 in the second overtime on a header by Janel Kaden. The Warriors went on to win their third national championship that year, defeating Oklahoma City in the finals 1-0.
In 2003, the two teams played twice. In September, Westmont traveled to Rome, Ga., to play Lindsey Wilson in a tournament at Berry. Westmont won the game 2-1.
Later that year, the Blue Raiders and Warriors met in the NAIA Championship Game held at La Playa Stadium at Santa Barbara City College. In the seventh overtime period (158th minute), with the score tied at one, Jessica Schoepke scored the winning goal for the Warriors, giving Westmont its fifth national title.
The two teams met again in the national tournament play in 2004, this time in the second round. First the first time, Lindsey Wilson defeated Westmont (1-0) and would go on to win the national championship for the first time in its history.
In 2005, the two teams were paired up in the second round of the national championship, which was played in Olathe, Kansas. Westmont prevailed 2-0 on two goals by Amy Lawson.
The two teams did not meet again until 2014 when the Warriors traveled to Columbus, Ky., to take on the Blue Raiders on their home field. Westmont won the game 2-0 on goals by Christine Adams and Grace Lemley.
The final two games between the squads came in 2015. In October of that year, the Blue Raiders came to Thorrington Field but left with a 3-0 loss courtesy of goals by Kelsey Steck, Alanna Richards and Hailey Parker. Then in the following December, Westmont and Lindsey Wilson played in the national tournament quarterfinals with the Blue Raiders prevailing 4-2.
This year’s Blue Raider team tied for second in the Mid-South Conference standings with a record of 7-1-2. Lindsey Wilson entered the Mid-South Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed but was upset in the quarterfinals by Thomas More (Ky.) (12-6-2) by a score of 3-1.
Kick-off for Westmont’s game with Lindsey Wilson on Thursday has been set for 12:30 p.m. EST / 9:30 p.m. PST. The final on Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST / 3 p.m. PST. A pay-per-view video is available for $7.99 per game at team1sports.com/southeasternfire.
Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
