5 burning questions for the 2024 DII women's soccer season

Point Loma, the defending DII women's soccer national champions, are set to take the field on Sept. 5, looking to make a repeat run to the title. Before the season kicks off, let's take a look at some questions that could start to be answered in the first month of the season.

5 burning questions for the 2024 DII women's soccer season

1. What does Point Loma do for an encore? The Sea Lions made program history last year, winning their first-ever national championship. It has been several years since there was a repeat champion not named Grand Valley State (which has repeated three times since 2009), with UC San Diego accomplishing the feat at the turn of the century in 2000-01. So, can Point Loma — which is oddly enough in San Diego — turn the tide and repeat in 2024?

The Sea Lions are certainly testing themselves early with a nonconference schedule that features three 2023 tournament teams in their first five games, including a quarterfinals rematch against UCCS on Sept. 21. However, Point Loma had eight players record double-digit points last season, and all but one returns, and that includes leading goal scorer Alana Diaz and Bethany Arabe, who led the team in assists. Also back is keeper Julia Pinnell — you know, the Sea Lions’ goalkeeper who didn’t allow a single goal in their five tournament wins? So, while Point Loma has a tough road ahead, it has experience by the boatload — now championship-tested experience at that — that make them a true repeat contender.

HISTORY: 2024 championship recap | Most titles in DII WSOC history

2. What does the rest of the top 5 look like? National runner-up Washburn had a storybook season in 2023. Washburn went from 11-6-2 in 2022 to 21-4-1 and a memorable run to the national championship match. Now the hunter becomes the hunted, and with 27 returning players from last year's squad, the Ichabods are picked to finish atop the MIAA rankings.

Adelphi made it to the national semifinals on the heels of an improved 2023 season. The Panthers — who return NE10 defensive player of the year Morgan Salmon and third-team All-NE10 goalkeeper Krista Aliscio — are pegged to win their conference and make a run at a repeat East Region title. Florida Tech was another team that made it to the national semifinals behind a vastly improved 2023, winning nine more matches than the year prior. Though Florida Tech has won the South Regional before, this is the first time in program history it enters the season in the top 3, coming in at No. 3. In an odd twist — despite returning first-team All-Region midfielder Daniela Tobon and leading goal scorer and All-SSC forward Lauryn Wood — the Panthers were picked third in their conference. Gannon rounded out the preseason top 5 and for the second-straight year is picked to win the PSAC West. Having All-American honorees Grace Emanuel and Brooklyn Respecki back certainly helps the cause.

3. Is this the year Grand Valley State strikes back? It has been a whopping two years since the Lakers appeared in a championship match. That may sound silly to say, but it is the longest stretch for the Lakers since 2009, having only missed a championship match in 2017 and 2012 prior to this two-year "slump." So, yes, two years in Allendale is an eternity.

Last year, Grand Valley State lost a 1-0 nail biter in the 81st minute of play of the quarterfinals to the eventual national runner-up Washburn. Top goal scorers Taylor Reid, Kacy Lauer and Emma Chudik are all back, as is keeper Isabel Imes, who went 10-3-5 last season with a 0.782 save percentage. The nonconference opening to their season is brutal, with last year’s Midwest Region No. 1 Ashland to open things up and Central Missouri and Cedarville — both of which recorded NCAA tournament wins last season — to follow. We should know pretty quickly what these Lakers are made of, but it is probably safe to say with the amount of returning experience and Katie Hultin fully entrenched as head coach in her third season, the Lakers should be considered one of the most dangerous teams in the land.

4. Who will lead DII women’s soccer in goals? There is a hearty list of potential goal champions entering the 2024 season. , Andrea Fernandez of Flagler is the active goal-scoring leader with 53 goals over her first three seasons. She is coming off a 16-goal campaign, surprisingly the fewest in her spectacular career thus far, so it will be interesting to see if she returns to that 20-goal performer of 2022.

Emma Beddow has been a consistent goal-scoring force for Columbus State since her 15-goal, freshman campaign in 2021. While her 44 career goals rank her in the top three among active DII goal scorers, she has become a well-rounded player, posting double-digit goals and assists last season. UNC Pembroke’s Mercy Bell had a nice freshman season in 2022, but absolutely exploded onto the scene in 2023, finishing third in DII women’s soccer with 19 goals. Most of her goals came early, as the Braves were held to one goal over their final four matches, so she should be raring to go. Bella Campos made quite the splash in the RMAC. The Colorado School of Mines forward was the RMAC freshman of the year and led the conference with 16 goals. Daemen’s Kylie Miranto is another player who turned a nice freshman season into a breakout sophomore season last year, improving from five goals to 16, including four game-winners for a Wildcats squad that went from five games below .500 in 2022 to four games over in 2023.

5. What are the "big ones" in Week 1? The DII women's soccer season doesn't waste any time in setting up huge matches. Preseason No. 20 Charleston (WV) has two heavyweight, top 25 matches on opening weekend. Right out of the gate, here are a few matches worth watching in Week 1 ():

• No. 9 Ashland at No. 7 Grand Valley State, Sept. 5
• No. 20 Charleston (WV) vs. No. 5 Gannon, Sept. 5
• No. 15 Embry-Riddle at No. 13 Catawba, Sept. 6
• No. 20 Charleston (WV) at No. 25 Kutztown, Sept. 7