KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After tying a school-record with 14 wins this season, College of Idaho will enter the NAIA Opening Round as the No. 4 seed in the West Palm Beach, Fla. Bracket.
Making their second appearance in as many seasons to the national tournament, the Yotes (14-6, 9-3 CCC) will head across the country to play No. 1 seed Keiser (14-2, 9-0 SUN).
The Seahawks are the two-time defending NAIA National Champions, having defeated William Carey 2-1 in overtime to claim the title during the spring campaign. Five players have tallied five or more goals for Keiser, led by Kyoka Koshijima (8 goals, 9 assists). Goalkeeper Grace McClellan has 13 career shutouts. The Seahawks and Yotes have never played each other.
In the other pairing in West Palm Beach, No. 2 Cumberland (Tenn.) will be matched up with No. 3 St. Thomas (Fla.).
Cumberland is 13-4-1 on the season and went 8-2-1 in Mid-South Conference play. The Phoenix are 12th in the nation with 69 goals scored this season. Haley Stevens (11 goals, 5 assists) and Jennifer Segura (10 goals, 7 assists) lead the offensive attack. Cumberland has seven shutouts this season and all four of their losses have come against ranked opponents.
For St. Thomas, they are one of just two teams to defeat Keiser this year, having defeated the Seahawks 3-1 in the Sun Conference Tournament. The Bobcats enter the postseason 12-5-2 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play. Andrea Manzur (8 goals, 4 assists), Katharina Jllich (7 goals, 6 assists) and Miranda Ferradaz (7 goals, 3 assists) are some pieces to watch for St. Thomas.
The West Palm Beach Bracket starts play on Thursday, Nov. 18 and will continue with the Opening Round Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Yotes and Keiser are set for an 11 a.m. ET start time on Thursday.
