Two of the more stingier defensive teams in Division I women’s soccer are set to go toe to toe out in the Midwest on Friday night. The Maine Black Bears and Wisconsin Badgers will collide in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at McClimon Track/Soccer Complex in Madison for an 8 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff.
Maine, who capped off back to back America East Championships by shutting out UNH 3-0 at Mahaney Diamond in Orono last Sunday afternoon, is in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight time after winning their first ever conference title last fall. The Black Bears fell in the opening round in 2023 by a score of 3-0 at Harvard. Maine enters this tournament on a 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1).
Maine boasts five players who have recorded double digit points this season in Abby Kraemer (seven goals, five assists, 19 points), Jordane Pinette (six goals, three assists, 15 points), Lara Kirkby (five goals, four assists, 14 points), Kayla Kraemer (four goals, four assists, 12 points), and Kristina Kelly (three goals, five assists, 11 points). Abby Kraemer helped set up the game winner by Pinette in the conference championship game in the third minute. The Black Bears have been phenomenal on the defensive side of the ball, as they’ve only allowed 12 goals (0.71 per contest) while scoring 31 in their 17 games. That ranks them 26th in the country out of 339 Division I teams in goals against. Maine has posted nine shutouts, led by graduate goaltender Jessica Kasacek who has registered six of them and has a 0.86 goals against average. Kasacek, who missed the America East semifinal and final due to personal reasons, is the projected starter for Friday night against Wisconsin. Freshman Grace Wilson blanked both UMass-Lowell (2-0) and UNH (3-0) in the postseason in relief, and recorded shutouts in all three games she appeared in this season.
Wisconsin (9-5-4), out of the Big 10 Conference, is ranked #5 out of the 16 teams in their bracket and is making their 25th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers are 60th in the nation in goals allowed, giving up 16 of them in 18 games (0.89 goals per contest). Their goaltender junior Drew Stover has seven shutouts on the campaign. Their two offensive leaders are graduate student Aryssa Mahrt who has nine goals and two assists (20 points), and senior Ashley Martinez who has put in two goals with seven assists (11 points). Wisconsin lost to #10 Ohio State 1-0 in the opening round of their conference tournament on November 1, so will have a much longer layoff than Maine who only has four days off in between games.
The winner of Fridays game will face Princeton or Virginia in the second round with a day and time to be determined.
The Maine Black Bears celebrate their second America East Championship in a row by beating UNH 3-0 on Sunday, November 10 in Orono. Maine is in Madison, Wisconsin and will face the Badgers out of the Big 10 in a First Round NCAA Tournament game on Friday night. Photo by Chris Lessner
