ATLANTA - Brevard College women's soccer's most historic season of the NCAA era concluded on Saturday afternoon, as the Tornados (18-1-1) fell 2-0 to Rhodes College (13-4-2) at the Woodruff PE Center Stadium on the campus of Emory University in the First Round of the NCAA DIII Championship Tournament.  

The Tornado defense battled throughout the contest against the tough opposition from the SAA. BC withstood three corner kicks and a shot attempt through the first 10 minutes of play before the Lynx put their first shot on target, an attempt by Sydney Gallagher that was denied by Abby Nunez.  

Rhodes earned consecutive corner kicks again before BC put its first shot on frame, as Mikayla Zvekan used a counter-attack to fire a shot that was stopped by RC's Olivia Barfield. Rhodes took a shot off a free kick in the 16th minute of play, but the attempt went out to the right. 

The Lynx took two more attempts at goal before Zvekan put her second on-target attempt of the afternoon in the 24th minute. Zvekan notched her third shot of the first half in the 32nd minute as BC's counter was aggressive.  

Rhodes took two more shot attempts ahead of the first goal of the match, as the Lynx's Ellie Lawrence found the back of the net off a Sophia Rall assist. Rall put a shot attempt off the crossbar just ahead of the halftime break, as the Lynx held a one-goal edge.  

Rhodes held a 9-3 advantage in shot attempts and took a total of six corners in the first half of play.  

Brevard's stellar defensive prowess was on full display through the first 25 minutes of the second half. Nunez totaled three saves as each shot on goal from Rhodes was denied by the Tornado defense.  

Nico Arroyo saw action in goal for the final 10-plus minutes, capping off her collegiate career with action in the NCAA Tournament. The Yulee, Fla. native appeared in 39 career matches for the Tornados, holding a record of 25-6-5.  

Rhodes was able to double its lead late, as Blair Rice scored a stellar goal off an assist by Maddie Carter in the 85th minute, sealing the victory for the Lynx, who will now advance to take on No. 2 Emory on Sunday at 3 p.m. 

BC finishes the 2025 season with an astonishing and unbelievable mark, outscoring its opposition 75-6 for a staggering goal differential on the season.  

The defeat concludes the most successful and historic campaign for Tornado women's soccer since Brevard joined the NCAA. BC completed consecutive unbeaten regular seasons, and in 2025, finished off its first regular season without a loss or a tie since the 1996 and 1997 NJCAA National Championship BC women's soccer teams. 

The Tornados' unprecedented 37-match unbeaten streak came to a close, as the streak was the second-longest active unbeaten streak in NCAA Division III women's soccer and finished as the third-longest active streak across all divisions of NCAA women's soccer. Two important streaks will carry over to another calendar year for the Tornados - 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, a stretch of 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. 

Plenty of USA South Conference honors were bestowed on the Tornados in 2025. Head Coach Juan Mascaro reached 100 career wins with BCWS and earned USA South Coach of the Year accolades for the second consecutive season. Zvekan was selected as BC women's soccer's first-ever USA South Player of the Year, while Nunez collected Goalkeeper of the Year honors for the second-straight season.  

USA South All-Conference accolades were also doled out in plenty. Zvekan and Nunez were placed on the All-Conference First Team, joined by Mikaela Edwards and Mikayla Rubin. Kinlee Mozley, Kiara Porcelli, and MK Smoak all earned All-Conference Second Team accolades. During the regular season, Nunez secured Defender of the Week honors three times, Zvekan was selected as Player of the Week twice, and Mozley was also voted as Player of the Week. Zvekan was honored by TopDrawerSoccer.com with National Player of the Week honors as well.  

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). 

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). 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). 

To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter/Instagram @BCTornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube and SoundCloud, and follow 'Brevard College Tornado Athletics' on Facebook.  In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from BC events. 
 

-BC-