The theme for the DII women's soccer championship match is: It's been a long time coming. For No. 4 seed Minnesota State, it is the first national championship match in program history. On the other side, No. 2 seed Cal Poly Pomona is back in the championship match for the first time since last century.
Last year, Point Loma won the title; and the year before that, Western Washington — so the Broncos are hoping to keep the title and bragging rights out in the West Region for a third year in a row. The Central Region — which is home to the Mavericks — last had a national champion in 2017 when Central Missouri won, so again, for the Central, a championship is a long time coming.
Here's what you need to know.
⚽️ Updates, scores and bracket from every round of the DII women's soccer championship
The DII women's soccer championship: How to watch
Cal Poly Pomona and Minnesota State are set to go head-to-head from Sportsplex at Matthews, in Matthews, North Carolina, at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 15. You can stream the game live right here on krikya18.com.
Cal Poly Pomona vs. Minnesota State: By the numbers
| Team | Scoring Offense | GAA | Assists/Game | Save percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly Pomona | 2.26 | 0.607 | 1.91 | 0.940 |
| Minnesota State | 1.96 | 0.234 | 1.64 | 0.791 |
Cal Poly Pomona enters as the No. 2 seed, dominating Franklin Pierce in that 1999 championship match rematch, 4-0. Angelina Rivas scored a pair of goals on two shots to lead the Broncos back to the championship match for the first time this millennium.
No angle, no problem. What an individual effort from Angelina Rivas! |
— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII)
The Broncos obviously have the offensive edge, statistically speaking, over the Mavericks with the 23rd-best scoring offense in DII. But don't be fooled — there is plenty of defense to go around. The Broncos have posted back-to-back shutouts — one against the No. 1 team in DII and the other against a Franklin Pierce team they had never beaten. They were keeper Bella Hara's 13th and 14th shutouts — a program record.
Speaking of defense, the Mavericks have arguably the best in DII. They have a DII-best 0.234 goals against average and goalie Clare Longueville is No. 1 in the division with a 0.939 save percentage, having yet to lose a game this season. Minnesota State has not allowed more than one goal in any DII women's soccer championship match yet, and it has played some DII heavyweights in Central Missouri, Grand Valley State and Columbus State.
They are averaging just 1.4 goals per game in the tournament thus far, so they are relying heavily on that defense. It was freshman Marin Johnson who scored the game-winner to send the Mavs to this historic title match. Remember, this wouldn't just be the first national title in Minnesota State's history; the Mavericks would bring home their conference's first-ever national championship in the sport.
DII women's soccer championship prediction
This should be a great matchup as both programs are playing for so much. At the end of the day, Columbus State scored 4.17 goals per game, tops in DII almost an entire goal per game. This Minnesota State defense proved it is for real, holding the Cougars to just one goal and handing them their first loss of the year. Maybe I'm being cliche, but it's hard to ignore that defense wins championships.
Prediction: Minnesota State 1, Cal Poly Pomona 0
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