ATLANTA - The Brevard College women's soccer team gears up for its first-ever appearance in the NCAA DIII Postseason, as the Tornados open up the 2025 NCAA Championship Tournament on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. by facing Rhodes College in the First Round, hosted by Emory University at the Woodruff PE Center Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Tornados enter the NCAA Tournament following a stellar unbeaten regular season where Brevard went without a loss or a tie, 16-0-0, to clinch the program's second-consecutive USA South Conference Regular Season Championship.
Brevard then began its quest towards the league's automatic bid. BC earned the top seed in the USA South Tournament, defeating no. 8 Salem 3-1 and no. 4 Mary Baldwin 4-0 en route to hosting the USA South Tournament Championship for the first time in program history. In an exhilarating final, the Tornados played Southern Virginia to a 110-minute scoreless draw before BC clinched its first Tournament Championship with a 5-4 finish in penalty kicks.
Brevard closed out the regular season and conference postseason top-five in several team statistical categories, including goals-against average (second, 0.208), won-lost-tied percentage (second, 0.974), assists per game (second, 3.63), save percentage (second, 0.935), shots per game (third, 25.58), points per game (fourth, 11.53), and shutout percentage (fourth, 0.789).
Mikayla Zvekan, the USA South Conference Player of the Year, leads all of NCAA DIII with 11 game-winning goals, and is top-10 in several categories including total points (third, 51), points per game (third, 2.74), shots on goal per game (fourth, 3.37), total goals (fourth, 21), shots per game (fifth, 5.89), and goals per game (fifth, 1.11). Abby Nunez, who garnered Goalkeeper of the Year accolades from the USA South for the second-consecutive season, is seventh and eighth respectively in goals against average (0.310) and save percentage (0.911), while Mikayla Rubin is seventh in assists per game (0.65).
Head Coach Juan Mascaro reached 100 career wins with BCWS, earned USA South Coach of the Year accolades for the second-consecutive season, and has led the Tornados to an unprecedented 37-match unbeaten streak which the second-longest active stretch in NCAA Division III women's soccer and the second-longest active streak across all divisions of NCAA women's soccer. BC has a 32-match home unbeaten mark that began on Oct. 18, 2022, and the Tornados have not been defeated in the regular season since Oct. 14, 2023 (36 matches).
Brevard garnered the program's highest-ever finish in the NCAA NPI rankings at 34th, with the Tornados topping the tabulations at 30th this season. BC also appeared in the NCAA Region VI and the United Soccer Coaches DIII Region VI rankings for the first time in school history.
NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
(Hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. at the Woodruff PE Center Stadium)
**designated home team listed second**
Saturday, November 15
Belhaven vs. No. 2 Emory | 1 p.m.
Rhodes vs. Brevard | 3.30 p.m.
Sunday, November 16
Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 | 3 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Rhodes College (NCAA NPI No. 41)
The Lynx enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament boasting a 12-4-2 overall record, with Rhodes receiving one of 21 total at-large bids distributed for the NCAA DIII Championships.
Rhodes went 4-2-1 in a highly-competitive SAA, and hosted the 2025 SAA Tournament, falling 3-0 to Trinity University in the final.
Sophia Rall leads all Lynx with seven goals and two assists, followed by Maddie Carter who has five goals. Abby Bell has distributed a team-best four assists, with Olivia Barfield serving as Rhodes' primary goalkeeper. Starting in all 18 contests for the Lynx, Barfield has allowed just 13 goals in 1,465 minutes, making 35 saves with nine total shutouts (six solo, three combined).
No. 2 Emory University (NCAA NPI No. 2)
The second-ranked site host Emory Eagles went an impressive 16-1-1 overall with a 5-1-1 record against the prestigious UAA, being narrowly denied a league title by the number one team in the land, Washington University in St. Louis.
Emory's Kaitlyn Nimmer has paced the Eagle attack with nine goals and nine assists for 27 total points. Mikayla Camp has scored eight times, with Madison Teng (five goals, five assists), Emory Bozzuti (four goals, four assists), and Zia Tomlin (five goals, one assist) also contributing heavily to the well-balanced attack.
Sophia Garcia has made all 18 starts in goal, going 16-1-1 with 13 total shutouts (10 solo, three combined). Garcia has allowed just five goals all year, making 44 saves for a 0.898 save percentage and a 0.32 goals-against average.
Belhaven University (NCAA NPI No. 144)
The Blazers earned the Collegiate Conference of the South's automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament after winning the program's first CCS Tournament crown.
Belhaven went 14-4-3 overall and boasted a 6-1-1 record in CCS play. The Blazers were the top seed in the conference tournament and defeated Asbury 2-1 in the title match.
Emma Antonoplos was a force for Belhaven, scoring 13 times with three assists for 29 points. Lauren Snell had eight goals, and Alexis Whiting scored seven times.
Addi Roberts was the featured goal-stopper for the Blazers in 2025, making 46 saves and being involved with 10 shutouts.
For more in-depth information on the 2025 NCAA DIII Women's Soccer Championship Tournament, please visit NCAA.com.
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-BC-
