The WashU Bears are 22-0-2 and will play for the D3 national title for the second straight year. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
| NCAA Women’s Soccer | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 Christopher Newport (18-2-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| #1 WashU (22-0-2) | 0 | 3 | 3 |
SCORING SUMMARY
| Time | Team | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 46:46 |  | Kate Martin (1) GOAL by WASHU Martin, Kate. |
| 47:52 | | Olivia Clemons (21) GOAL by WASHU Clemons, Olivia. |
| 56:38 | | Cami Colpitts (5) GOAL by WASHU Colpitts, Cami. |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
LAS VEGAS, NV — The Washington University women’s soccer team will play for the NCAA Division III national championship for the second straight year, after earning a 3-0 win over Christopher Newport University, Friday evening in the national semifinals at Peter Johann Memorial Field, which is on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
This will be the fifth time WashU will play for the national title, with its only previous championship win coming in 2016.
Last year, the Bears were the favorite going into the title game, and made it there with just one loss all season. But WashU lost the championship game, 1-0, to upstart California Lutheran, which claimed its first ever national title.
This year, WashU is 22-0-2 and have been the No. 1 ranked team in the country for all but one week of the season.
The Bears will play William Smith College for the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
WashU’s Gaelen Clayton (left) tries to get the ball away from Christopher Newport’s Lexie Hazelgrove during Friday’s NCAA Division III national semifinal game in Las Vegas. (Photo courtesy: NCAA.com)
In Friday’s contest, WashU delivered another stellar defensive performance, as the Bears controlled the ball and the action for almost the entire game. Christopher Newport was only able to generate five shots (only two on goal) and none of its scoring chances were particularly dangerous.
WashU on the other hand, had 18 shots in the game (six on goal) and got goals from three different players.
The game was scoreless through the first half, but just two minutes into the second half, freshman Kate Martin scored her first goal as a college player, on a rebound shot, to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
Then, just over a minute later, fellow freshman Olivia Clemons — the likely national Freshman of the Year and possible overall national Player of the Year — worked her way around two Christopher Newport defenders and its goalkeeper to slide in a shot for her 21st goal of the season and make the score 2-0. Clemons leads the Bears in scoring and is third in the country in goals scored this season.
The final goal came in the 57th minute, when another freshman, Cami Colpitts blasted a shot into the Christopher Newport net for her fifth goal of the season.
From that point on, WashU’s defense simply smothered Christopher Newport’s offense and didn’t allow any scoring chances. Goalkeeper Sidney Conner made two saves to earn her 10th shutout of the season.