Sports | Women's Soccer
Viva Las Vegas: No. 1 women’s soccer journeys to the 2024 NCAA Division III Final Four

WashU women’s soccer is in the Final Four for the second season in a row after defeating the University of Chicago in the Elite Eight. (Anna Calvo | Staff Photographer)
At the start of each season, the players on the WashU women’s soccer team create a goal pyramid, starting with listing off small goals that set the building blocks for their larger aspirations. So far this season, the No. 1 ranked Bears have been ticking many of their goals off the list: have an undefeated season at home, win the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, and make the Final Four.
Now, the Bears have their “top goal” left to achieve: to win the national championship.
According to sophomore midfielder Sophie Viscovich, the Bears approach the postseason as “three two-game tournaments.” After scoring late winners to beat Colby College and the University of Chicago and earn a spot in the Final Four, WashU has just one two-game tournament left.
“We know we start zero-and-zero; the rest of the season doesn’t matter. It’s a new tournament,” Viscovich said ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup against Colby. “Getting to that Final Four, it’s three two-game tournaments, so just winning it game by game. We go one game at a time.”
In 2016, after finishing the previous year as runners-up, the Bears defeated Messiah University for the program’s only national title. The 2024 WashU squad is looking to repeat history. One year after losing to California Lutheran University in the 2023 National Championship game, the Bears are making a second-ever repeat Final Four appearance ever and are looking to duplicate the 2016 squad’s success.
Standing in their way, however, is another Division III soccer heavyweight: No. 2 Christopher Newport University who the Bears will play in the Final Four on Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. CST.
The Captains entered the tournament as the top seed in their region, only having lost to the University of California–Santa Cruz in the Coast-To-Coast (C2C) Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 10. Christopher Newport made an early statement, blowing past John Jay College in the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 12-0 victory, the largest win by any team in this year’s tournament. A 4-0 shutout over Vassar College sent the Captains to the Sweet 16, which they hosted in Newport News, Virginia.
The Captains narrowly beat No. 6 Misericordia University 1-0 and No. 18 Johns Hopkins University 3-2 to advance to the Final Four and set up their first-ever matchup against one of D-III’s most high-powered teams — WashU.
Christopher Newport is led by C2C Offensive Player of the Year junior Hanna Heaton, who has racked up 13 goals and a program-record 17 assists, and graduate student Corinne Kulik, who has 10 goals and four assists. Senior All-American defender Reanna Slater and sophomore goalkeeper Amy Sidaway lead a talented backline that has allowed just 0.4 goals per game.

Senior winger Gaelen Clayton leads the Bears with eight assists. (Anna Calvo | Staff Photographer)
WashU’s journey to the NCAA Tournament has been a fairly linear one. The Bears recorded their first unbeaten season since 2018, claimed their second-straight conference title, and hosted the first two rounds of the tournament before a home crowd at Francis Field.
Like Christopher Newport, the Bears cruised through the opening rounds of the tournament — defeating DePauw University 2-0 and Simpson College 5-1 to find themselves in their eighth consecutive Sweet 16.
One week later, the Bears punched their ticket to the Final Four with wins over Colby and Chicago. In both games, WashU broke through on late goals from their star forwards. Junior Grace Ehlert danced past Colby defenders to send WashU to the Elite Eight, and the next day, first-year Olivia Clemons ran through the Chicago backline to score the game-winning tally against the Maroons.
Clemons and Ehlert — both of whom were named First-Team All-UAA players — will have to keep up their good form against Christopher Newport. Clemons has scored 20 goals — more in a single season than any WashU player since 1998 — while Ehlert has tallied 13, including seven game-winners.
After the win over Colby, Ehlert said that she believes her squad is on the right path.
“We’re definitely where we want to be,” she said.

First-year Olivia Clemons shoots the ball in the Sweet 16 matchup against Colby. (Anna Calvo | Staff Photographer)
The Bears’ rock-solid defense has given up just seven goals all season and kept back-to-back clean sheets when they needed them most in their last two games. Led by defenders senior Emma Riley McGahan and graduate student Ally Hackett, and graduate student goalkeeper Sidney Conner — the program record-holder with 43 career shutouts — the Bears’ deep roster has consistently limited opponents.
“Our team is so deep,” McGahan said after their second-round win over Simpson. “Every single girl is so talented, so I don’t have any doubt in my mind. No matter who’s on the field, we’re gonna take care of business.”
The Bears are one of two UAA teams left in the tournament. On the other side of the bracket, No. 23 Emory University and No. 11 William Smith College are set to face off Friday night. If WashU and Emory both win their semifinal matchups, it would mark the first time that two UAA teams faced each other in the national championship game. WashU opened their conference season against Emory in Atlanta in October, defeating the Eagles 2-1.
However, according to WashU head coach Jim Conlon, the Bears have the same mindset no matter who they’re facing or what’s on the line.
“I think the Final Four has a different feel to it, and we just need to be who we are and not get caught up in the moment,” he said.The Bears will travel to the University of Nevada–Las Vegas to take on Christopher Newport on Friday, Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. CST. Should WashU advance, they will play either William Smith or Emory in the national championship game on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2:00 p.m. CST. Both games will be livestreamed on the NCAA website.