Cortland to Face Amherst in NCAA Women's Soccer First Round Saturday at Messiah
Cortland Sports Information Department
The Cortland women's soccer team will be making its 16th NCAA Division III tournament appearance and 21st overall national tournament showing when the Red Dragons travel to a four-team regional hosted by Messiah University in Grantham, Pa. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-16.
Cortland (14-2-4) will face Amherst College (10-4-2) in a first-round game Saturday in the day's second game at 1:30 p.m. Messiah (19-2-0) will face Southern Maine (11-10-2) in Saturday's first contest at 11 a.m., and the two winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. at Messiah's Shoemaker Field in the second round. The regional champion will advance to a four-team sectional Nov. 22-23 at a site to be determined. The NCAA semifinals and finals will be held Dec. 4 and Dec. 6 in Salem, Va.
Cortland, under 22nd-year head coach Heidi Axtell, earned an NCAA automatic berth after defeating Plattsburgh, 3-2, in the SUNYAC championship game on Saturday at Cortland. The Red Dragons are heading to the NCAA playoffs for third time in four seasons. In its last appearance in 2023, Cortland fell to John Carroll in the first round at Case Western.
Cortland tied for ninth nationally in 2012 and advanced to the national quarterfinals to tie for fifth place in 2011. The Red Dragons were the 1992 NCAA Division III champion, were national runner-up in 1990, and were a national semifinalist in 1986. Cortland's previous national appearances include four NCAA Division I tournaments from 1982-85 and a win in the 1980 U.S. National Women's Soccer Championship, which predated the NCAA playoffs.
Cortland is led offensively by freshman forward Gianna Cirilla (Pattersonville/Schalmont), who has 20 points on nine goals and two assists. Cirilla was named MVP of the SUNYAC Tournament after scoring two goals and adding an assist in the conference championship game. Junior captain Tyla Vuotto (Lynbrook) has totaled 19 points on seven goals and five assists. Piper Klammer (Mahopac) enters the week with five goals and five assists, including three goals and one assist in the two games during the SUNYAC Tournament to earn all-tournament team honors Goalkeeper Olivia Rouse (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) has started 19 games and has a 0.38 GAA, a .905 save percentage and her 12 solo shutouts are tied for second in the nation. Senior captain Katie Diem (Fairport) has played the full 90 minutes in all 20 games for the Red Dragons this season, and was also an all-tournament team honoree, along with freshman midfielder Dana Scruggs (Bethpage).
Amherst earned an NCAA at-large berth after falling to Colby, 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) playoffs. The Mammoths have qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, and reached the national quarterfinals in 2024.
Messiah claimed the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth title with a 4-0 win over Stevenson in the championship game to earn an NCAA automatic berth. The Falcons have appeared in every national tournament since 2008, and won national titles in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2019, while also reaching the national semifinals in 2022 and 2023. Southern Maine is making its fourth straight NCAA appearance after claiming the Little East's automatic berth with a 3-0 victory over Western Connecticut in the championship game.
Amherst and Cortland will be meeting for the first time all-time, while Messiah and Southern Maine will also be matched up for the first time.
