AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 13 nationally-ranked Wesleyan women's soccer team travels to Amherst College in Massachusetts for the 2021 NESCAC Championship semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Wesleyan will take on No. 17 Hamilton College at 1:30 PM after Amherst hosts Middlebury College in the first semifinal at 11 AM. The winners will advance to the final – also at Amherst – on Sunday, Nov. 7 at Noon. The winner of that match earns the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament.
The semifinal match between Hamilton and Wesleyan will be the first time the two sides have met in the NESCAC Tournament and both squads are looking to advance to the championship game for the first time in program history.
The Cardinals stand 13-1-1 overall and are the No. 2 seed for the tournament after they finished the regular season in second place with an 8-1-1 NESCAC record. Wesleyan defeated the seventh-seed Bowdoin 2-1 in the quarterfinals on Oct. 30 and is in the semifinal round for the third time in program history and the first since 2012. Wesleyan's 13 wins are already a single-season program record, eclipsing the previous team record of 12 set back in 1994.
Hamilton are 13-1-2 overall and are the No. 3 seed in the tournament after posting the best regular season in team history. The Continentals are in the semifinal round for just the second time since Hamilton joined the NESCAC for soccer in 2011. Hamilton is ranked third in the region by the NCAA and were ranked as high as No. 11 in the national polls this season. Wesleyan defeated Hamilton 3-0 at home on Oct. 23 in the regular season meeting.
Amherst is ranked No. 12 in Division III and first in the region by the NCAA. The Mammoths are 14-1-1 overall and are the top seed in the tournament after they finished the regular season tied for first place with an 8-1-1 league record. Amherst earned the top seed via their 1-0 win over the Cardinals on Oct. 9. The Mammoths have a league-leading 54 goals and has surrendered just eight this season. Amherst is also the defending NESCAC Champion and are entering the semifinal unbeaten in their last 12 games (11-0-1) and are 9-1 at home this season.
Middlebury received votes in the national coaches poll and the Panthers are ranked fourth in the region by the NCAA. Middlebury is 12-3-1 overall and is the No. 4 seed for the league tournament after finishing the regular season with a mark of 6-3-1. Middleubry is in the semifinal round for the third straight tournament and has played for the NESCAC title the past two seasons.
For more information, including a NESCAC preview of Saturday's semifinals and links to Championship Central and championship gear, please click
HERE. The Championship Central page includes the Amherst spectator policy, a 2019 championship recap, championship records and past champions.
