Two one-bid regions bring the heat in the first week of D-III regionals!
April 26, 2024 by Anna Browne in Preview with 0 comments
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There are few more exciting portions of the ultimate calendar than spring College Regionals. For some, these events will be the culmination of a season — or even college career — while for others it’s just another step on their path toward the D-III College Championships in three weeks. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
With a majority of D-III Women’s regional representatives for Nationals already determined from ConfRegionals tournaments over the last two weeks, there are just a few regions left to fill out the Nationals field. This week will be focusing on the Metro East and Ohio Valley regions, with next week showcasing our final region, New England. We’ve got you covered on the storylines to watch.
Metro East
Score Reporter
Location: Batavia, New York
Nationals Bids: 1
Favorites: #16 Rochester
Contenders: #18 Wesleyan, Ithaca, Skidmore
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥
With two clearly dominant teams in Rochester and Wesleyan, the Metro East is looking like it will all come down to the game-to-go. Conferences showed this dominance with Rochester letting up just nine goals while Wesleyan breezed past every team except for Skidmore, who they still beat with a respectable 10-8 victory. Speaking of Skidmore, the Thoroughbears and the Ithaca Kweezy will be looking to shake up the region with some big upsets.
Based on resume alone, Rochester has the slight leg up on Wesleyan with a 10-9 victory at Northeast Classic. The EZ also have good results against ranked D-III competition, including an 8-7 win over Lehigh, an 8-6 win over Wellesley (to avenge their 7-6 loss at the same tournament), and two losses against Haverford/Bryn Mawr. They also have an 8-5 win over Mount Holyoke, a team who has been on our 2024 power rankings, and strong wins against regional competition Skidmore, Swarthmore, and Ithaca. A young team, Rochester will need to rely on veterans Kaitlin Chung, Wendy Zimmerman, and Puck Moser if they want to continue their success into May.
Wesleyan is in a similar boat to Rochester coming into Metro East Regionals, with a split against Wellesley and a win over Mount Holyoke, but fell 10-9 to Rochester at Northeast Classic. A notable result for Wesleyan is their 1-1 split with Bates, a team that could very easily dominate if they make it to Nationals out of the New England region. While Wesleyan had to fight a bit at Conferences with the 10-8 win over Skidmore, they are set to face Skidmore on Saturday which will serve as good preparation for their likely matchup with Rochester. The Vicious Circles will be relying on rising star Maggie Brown1, handler Olivia Bordon, and Sofia Canoutas-Nadel.
The strongest challengers to the two stalwarts are Ithaca and Skidmore. While both teams have struggled to put up statement wins this season, they have played close games with strong D-III teams, especially in the last few weeks. Skidmore is coming off a 10-8 loss to Wesleyan at Conferences. If they can clean up their game a bit, they could find the inside track to the bid. The story is similar for Ithaca, with a close 6-4 loss to Lehigh at the end of March and a 8-5 loss to Rochester in Conferences. If either of these two teams can get a run going or utilize the wind effectively, they could find themselves punching their ticket to Milwaukee.
Ohio Valley
Score Reporter
Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Nationals Bids: 1
Favorites: #8 Haverford/Bryn Mawr
Contenders: #13 Lehigh, #24 Scranton, Cedarville, Kenyon
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
A region that looked like it was going to be a walk in the park for Haverford/Bryn Mawr to win just one week ago is now looking more wide open than ever thanks to a triangle of losses between Scranton, Haverford/Bryn Mawr, and Lehigh at Pennsylvania Conferences last weekend. While all conference results come with a grain of salt, especially in the D-III Women’s Division where teams auto-qualify for regionals if the region has less than 16 teams, this 12-7 loss to Scranton for the Sneetches leaves cause for concern. With a relatively weak Ohio Conference, expect the strength of this regional to come from the state of Pennsylvania.
Even so, Haverford/Bryn Mawr is still the clear favorite to take the lone Ohio Valley bid. With a consistently dominant season, especially against strong D-III programs, the Sneetches will rely heavily on their stars Zoe Costanza, Clara Morton, and Sonia Nicholson. This year, the Sneetches boast a 13-2 record against D-III schools, with a 5-2 record against ranked D-III teams, including 10-3 and 10-8 over Lehigh, 11-8 over Bates to win Northeast Classic, and dominant 15-5 and 10-3 wins over Rochester. While Haverford/Bryn Mawr hit the ground running, their recent slips cause some concern, most notably the loss to Scranton and the close win over Lehigh at the aforementioned Pennsylvania Conferences. After their disappointing Conferences, the Sneetches enter Regionals as the most dangerous five seed in a seven team tournament.
The biggest challenger for the bid is none other than Lehigh Gravity. While Lehigh hasn’t been able to best the Sneetches this season, they have strong wins against quality opponents, including Dartmouth, Ithaca, and Boston College. Additionally, Lehigh was able to beat Scranton 7-6 at Conferences, so could very well see themselves fighting for the bid in the game-to-go. Lehigh is hungry for a Nationals berth after a universe point loss to Haverford/Bryn Mawr in the 2023 Ohio Valley Regional Final, and look to be peaking at just the right time to satisfy their hunger. For Lehigh to overcome the odds and steal the bid, they will need big contributions from Jenny “Skyy” Fiore, Naomi Miller, Taylor “Mantis” Stanley, and Abby “Mazey” Vogel. Newer players making a splash for Gravity include Beth “Toga” Hooks and rookie Jade “Arty” Glass. Lehigh got a good draw sandwiched between Cedarville and Oberlin, and should win Pool B easily. Then, Sunday will likely feature back-to-back must win games against Scranton and Haverford/Bryn Mawr.
The biggest unknown of the tournament will be #24 Scranton Electric City. This team usually competes in the small but growing Mixed College Division, but decided to put together a women’s division team for the series for the first time in program history. With players like senior Kathryn Olafson, the Electric City are poised to shake up the bracket with their small but mighty roster. With only seven teams and a pool featuring a Saturday matchup against Haverford/Bryn Mawr, Electric City’s best shot is to get first in their pool so they have a total of four games on the weekend. Otherwise, they may need to get lucky to ensure they can carry their small team to another victory over Haverford/Bryn Mawr when it really counts.
Other challengers include the top Ohio teams, Cedarville and Kenyon. Cedarville has graced our top 25 several times this season, but is currently on the outside looking in. While Queen Bee have a very outside shot of pulling off a string of upsets against a strong field, they have a set of good results including an 8-4 win over Catholic and a 7-6 loss to Nationals-bound Richmond. Additionally, Cedarville dominated at Conferences, with the closest game being a 15-6 win over Kenyon. Speaking of Kenyon, this would be an underdog story if there ever was one. While they have a respectable 6-3 season record, they haven’t been able to get wins against mid-tier regional rivals Cedarville and Franciscan. Kenyon also draws a hard pool with Scranton and Haverford/Bryn Mawr as their early Saturday competition. But hey, the weather is crazy in April and anything can happen.
Who is fresh off a Callahan at Conferences ↩
