The DII Women’s Soccer Championship is right around the corner. There is roughly a week left of regular season play before conference tournaments commence and begin to paint a picture of what the NCAA DII postseason will look like.
Before the chaos of playoff soccer ensues, let’s take a look back at some of the top scorers in DII women’s soccer thus far in 2018 (in no particular order).
Katie Killion, Central Oklahoma
The Bronchos are having a magical season, currently 16-0 and have their first Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular-season title since joining the conference in 2012 locked up. Central Oklahoma has rebounded from a 7-10-2 2017, and head coach Mike Cook is looking for his first undefeated season since beginning the program in 1998.
And then there is Killion.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK MIAA Player of the Week. @UCOSoccer #RollChos https://t.co/NXFx5OGZyo
— UCO Bronchos (@ucoathletics) October 16, 2018
Killion had 23 career goals entering 2018, and already has a DII women’s soccer-best 22 with two regular season games remaining. The senior forward has seven multigoal games including a run of three in a row from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7 where she recorded back-to-back hat tricks. And to no one’s surprise, her 10 game-winning goals are tops in DII. When you add in her eight assists, tied for 18th-best in DII, Killion’s 52 total points are second to none. She’s throwing together one of the best Bronchos seasons in the history of the program, and Central Oklahoma is looking like a dangerous team ready for November.
Alimata Rabo and Sandra Nabweteme, Southwestern Oklahoma State
It’s unfair to the rest of the Great American Conference that two of DII women’s soccer’s most prolific goal scorers play on the same pitch. Last season, Rabo and Nabweteme combined for 41 goals and 16 assists, and the dynamic duo is at it once again in 2018.
Congrats to Alimata Rabo for being awarded her tenth GAC Offensive Player of the Week!
— SWOSU Soccer (@swosusoccer) October 2, 2018
🐶⚽️ #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/JYIJymCBhA
Rabo has 19 goals, down from her breakout 28 last season, but still good for second in DII and the active leader in the division. Nabweteme, the 2016 GAC Freshman of the Year, has 15 goals but is amongst DII’s best set-up forwards with 11 assists as well. The Bulldogs had a tough opening to the season, playing defending champion Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma in their first two games. Since that 0-2 start, Rabo and Nabweteme have led the Bulldogs on an 11-1-1 run. The bad news for the GAC? Southwestern Oklahoma’s goal-scoring tandem will be back for more next year as both are mere juniors.
Maegen Doyle, Bridgeport
ECC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week - Maegen Doyle, @UBPurpleKnights https://t.co/mR2ZTVg496 pic.twitter.com/tlLDEZ4hnK
— East Coast Conference (@ECCSports) October 15, 2018
The Purple Knights of Bridgeport are on fire, winning their last seven games in a row. What their junior mid/forward has done over that span is borderline ridiculous. Doyle has scored 13 goals in her last seven games, including consecutive hat tricks on Oct. 8 and 10. She is setting career highs across the board, her 17 goals crushing last year’s team-best 12, and she already has seven game-winners, one better than last season. The Purple Knights are fueled by the hot foot of Doyle, and if she stays in the zone, this could be the start of a special run.
Bree Rock, Holy Family
Rock is no stranger to the spotlight. She has won back-to-back Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player of the Year awards and is well on her way to a third. Her 17 goals are tied for third-most in DII, and with her recent hot streak, there are surely more to come.
During today's @HFUwomenssoccer game versus Shepherd, senior Bree Rock recorded her 49th career goal and 117th career point becoming the program's NCAA D-II era leader in both categories. HFU has been part of @NCAADII since the start of the 2003 season. #HFUWS #HFUTigers pic.twitter.com/VgLRElSC8X
— Holy Family Tigers (@GoHFUTigers) October 17, 2018
The senior came out of the gates hot, scoring five goals in the Tigers first three games of the season. She then went quiet for six games until exploding with seven goals in two games to open October. She’s been on fire ever since, scoring 12 goals in her last six games. Holy Family is 5-1 over that span, its lone loss coming when Rock was held scoreless. Rock leads the CACC in goals and points and is now the DII program’s all-time leader in both. With one regular season game left and a spot in the CACC tourney, the Tigers will need Rock to continue rolling to get deep into November.
Olivia Jarrell, Columbus State
Jarrell has been the model of consistency in her four years at Columbus State. During her tenure, the Cougars have gone 71-10-2 with three straight trips to the NCAA tournament, including appearances in the 2015 national title game and 2016 national semifinals. Jarrell has scored 17, 19, and 18 goals respectively and has 14 in her final season in keeping the Cougars undefeated with two regular season games left.
61’ | GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!
— Columbus State Women’s Soccer (@CSUCougarsWSOC) October 20, 2018
Jarrell has her second of the night! 5-0! #GoCSU 🐾 pic.twitter.com/2yWctJEy8A
Her 68 career goals are only second to Rabo amongst active DII women’s soccer players. She’s the Cougars all-time leader in goals and points and has Columbus State looking postseason bound once again. Her list of accolades is endless, but Jarrell is missing just one thing from the trophy case. The Cougars have been knocking on the door for her first three years, perhaps this is her chance at a national championship.
Jada Scott, Central Missouri
Scott will go down as the Jennies all-time greatest scoring threat. That’s not too shabby an honor for a team that has racked up three 20-win seasons and a national championship during her tenure.
The redshirt-senior played a mere two games in 2014 before shutting down and redshirting. Of course, she was able to score a goal before it was all said and done. Scott has racked up 58 more along the way and has earned numerous All-American honors and MIAA Offensive Player of the Year awards along the way. A lot has been made of the Jennies defense and brick wall goalie Ana Dilkes in years past, but Scott’s contributions to the success of this program can’t be ignored.
Rachael Norton, Bemidji State
Norton broke out in a big way in her 2017 junior campaign, scoring a career-high 14 goals with a career-best 10 assists. She has already surpassed the goals with 16 and with two games left, has a solid chance to set a new career-high in assists as well.
⚽ Congrats to Rachael Norton (@rachaellouise58) for becoming just the second player in @BSUBeaverSoccer history to eclipse 1️⃣ 0️⃣0️⃣career points. She had ✌️goals and✌️assists in a 4-0 victory today... just another day at the office. pic.twitter.com/0eAUFSAbwd
— Bemidji St. Beavers (@BSUBeavers) September 30, 2018
Last year’s NSIC Offensive Player of the Year will end her career as one of the Beavers greatest women’s soccer players in program history. With Bemidji State currently undefeated, she is hoping her final season keeps going well into November.
Others to watch:
Jamie Boyar, Daemen: Boyer had 17 goals combined in her first two seasons, but already has 16 in her junior year. A big five-goal, two-assist performance on October 17 was the highest single-game points total (12) in a DII game this season.
TeMia Pride, West Alabama: The junior had a seven-game goal-scoring streak end recently in which she knocked in 11 goals. She now has 37 career goals in three years at West Alabama.
