The SLU Billikens women’s soccer team celebrates winning its sixth straight Atlantic 10 Conference championship, Sunday afternoon at Hermann Stadium. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
Fresh off of winning its sixth straight Atlantic 10 Conference championship, the Saint Louis University women’s soccer team was named a No. 6 seed in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship, which will begin around the country next weekend.
The Billikens will host Big Ten Conference member and tournament at-large bid winner, Indiana in a first-round game Friday, November 10, at Hermann Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The NCAA national championship tournament appearance is Saint Louis’ eighth overall and sixth in succession. SLU earned an automatic tournament bid by winning the Atlantic 10 title on Sunday, 3-0, against La Salle.
Saint Louis (17-2-2), which posted a 9-0-1 record in winning the A-10 regular-season crown, carries a 10-game winning streak – the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I women’s soccer – a 10-game shutout streak and a 16-game (14-0-2) unbeaten streak into the national tournament. The Billikens lead the nation in goal differential (+57), rank second in goals per game (3.19) and save percentage (.900), third in shutout percentage (.667) and eighth in goals against average (0.48).
Indiana (12-3-4) finished fifth (6-2-2) in a tightly packed Big Ten race that saw the top five teams separated by only three points. The Hoosiers fell 3-0 to Penn State in the Big Ten Championship quarterfinals. Saint Louis and Indiana played no common opponents.
The Billikens have a 1-1-1 record in the all-time series with Indiana. The Hoosiers claimed a 1-0 victory at SLU in 1998; the teams tied 1-1 the following year in Bloomington; and Saint Louis won 1-0 in a game at Hermann, the last time the two teams played in 2003.
Should the Billikens advance, they would play either Georgetown, a No. 3 seed, or Old Dominion in the second round of the 64-team tournament.
Penn State is the No. 2 seed in SLU’s portion of the bracket and would host second- and third-round games November 17 and 19, should the Nittany Lions advance past their first-round opponent, Central Connecticut State.
The fourth first-round game in SLU’s portion of the bracket is No. 7 Santa Clara vs. Arizona State.
SLU sports information contributed to this story.
