2023 Northeast Conference women's soccer tournament

2023 Northeast Conference women's soccer tournament
Classification	Division I
Teams	6
Matches	5
Attendance	2,970
Site	Campus Sites, Hosted by Higher Seed
Champions	Central Connecticut (13th title)
Winning coach	Mick D'Arcy (11th title)
MVP	Melina Ford (Central Connecticut)
Broadcast	ESPN+
Northeast Conference women's soccer tournament «2022   2024»

2023 Northeast Conference women's soccer standings

v t e	Conf.									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
Merrimack  ‍†‍‍	8	–	1	–	1		.850			10	–	4	–	4		.667
Central Connecticut  ‍‍‡‍y	7	–	0	–	3		.850			10	–	5	–	5		.625
Fairleigh Dickinson  ‍‍‍	8	–	2	–	0		.800			8	–	11	–	0		.421
Howard  ‍‍‍	6	–	3	–	1		.650			12	–	6	–	2		.650
Sacred Heart  ‍‍‍	5	–	4	–	1		.550			6	–	9	–	4		.421
Wagner  ‍‍‍	5	–	5	–	0		.500			8	–	8	–	4		.500
Saint Francis (PA)  ‍‍‍	3	–	5	–	2		.400			3	–	12	–	2		.235
LIU  ‍‍‍	3	–	6	–	1		.350			7	–	8	–	2		.471
Stonehill  ‍‍‍	2	–	6	–	2		.300			2	–	13	–	3		.194
Le Moyne  ‍‍‍	1	–	7	–	2		.200			2	–	12	–	4		.222
Delaware State  ‍‍‍	0	–	9	–	1		.050			0	–	15	–	1		.031
† – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 NEC Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 5, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source: Northeast Conference

The 2023 Northeast Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Northeast Conference held from October 29 to November 5, 2023. The five-match tournament took place at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting matches. The host for the matches was determined by seeding from regular season play. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. ^[1] Fairleigh Dickinson was unable to defend their title, losing to Wagner in the First Round. Central Connecticut went on to win the tournament over Wagner in penalties in the Final. ^[2] This was the thirteenth Northeast Conference tournament title for the Central Connecticut women's soccer program, eleven of which have come under the direction of head coach Mick D'Arcy. This marks the fifth NEC title in six years for Central Connecticut. ^[3] As tournament champions, Central Connecticut earned the Northeast Conference's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.

Seeding

The top six teams from regular season play qualified for the 2023 Tournament. Teams were seeded based on their regular season records. Tiebreakers were used to determine seeds if teams were tied on regular season record. A tiebreaker was required to determine the second and third seeds as Central Connecticut and Fairleigh Dickinson finished the regular season tied with 24 points each. Central Connecticut won the regular season meeting between the two teams 2–1 on September 24 and was therefore the second seed. Fairleigh Dickinson would have to play in the First Round as the third seed. ^[4]

Seed	School	Conference Record	Points
1	Merrimack	8–1–1	25
2	Central Connecticut	7–0–3	24
3	Fairleigh Dickinson	8–2–0	24
4	Howard	6–3–1	22
5	Sacred Heart	5–4–1	16
6	Wagner	5–5–0	15

Bracket

	First Round Sunday, Oct. 29					Semifinals Thursday, Nov. 2					Final Sunday, Nov. 5
						1	Merrimack	1 (1)
	4	Howard	1			6	Wagner (pen.)	1 (3)
	5	Sacred Heart	0								2	Central Connecticut (pen.)	1 (4)
											6	Wagner	1 (3)
						2	Central Connecticut (a.e.t.)	2
	3	Fairleigh Dickinson	0			4	Howard	1
	6	Wagner	3

Note: Teams were re-seeded after the First Round.

Schedule

First round

#3 Fairleigh Dickinson v #6 Wagner

October 29	#3 Fairleigh Dickinson	0–3	#6 Wagner	Teaneck, NJ
12:00 p.m. ET		Report	15' Madison Carr 24' Jess Maraia 33' Olivia Rubbo	Stadium: University Stadium Attendance: 243 Referee: Danny Marques Assistant referees: Pete Mandell Assistant referees: Kyle O'Grady Fourth official: Jaroslaw Werel

#4 Howard v #5 Sacred Heart

October 29	#4 Howard	1–0	#5 Sacred Heart	Washington, D.C.
9:00 p.m. ET	Marli Berry 31',  87' Asia Mickens-Perez  79'	Report	45' Nichol Green	Stadium: Greene Stadium Attendance: 211 Referee: Ben Pilgrim Assistant referees: Susan Walton Assistant referees: Inga Maric Fourth official: Mark Remsa

Semifinals

#2 Central Connecticut v #4 Howard

November 2	#2 Central Connecticut	2–1 (a.e.t.)	#4 Howard	New Britain, CT
6:00 p.m. ET	Katarzyna Zawadzki  57' Aoife Horgan 88' (pen.) Daniela De Souza 102'	Report	30' Zoe Moore 57' Mia Young  69' Nyla Allen  88' Marli Berry	Stadium: CCSU Soccer Field Attendance: 622

#1 Merrimack v #6 Wagner

November 2	#1 Merrimack	1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p)	#6 Wagner	Andover, MA
7:00 p.m. ET	Isabella Keogh 77'	Report	90' Kayla Barbosa	Stadium: Martone-Mejail Field Attendance: 781 Referee: Luis Reis Assistant referees: Claudiu Badea Assistant referees: Nicola Vesia Fourth official: Leah Hayes
	Penalties
	Abigail Cieri Ella Cormier Emma Rogorzenski Sydney Haskin		Sara Wiedeman Kylie McNally Jess Maraia Juliana Rafaniello

Final

#2 Central Connecticut v #6 Wagner

November 5	#2 Central Connecticut	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	#6 Wagner	New Britain, CT
1:00 p.m. ET	Giavanna Inzerillo 104'	Report	25', 110' Kayla Barbosa  56' Jess Maraia  95' Juliana Rafaniello  104'  104' Team	Stadium: CCSU Soccer Field Attendance: 1,113 Referee: Alexandria Focea Assistant referees: Claudiu Badea Assistant referees: Inga Maric
	Penalties
	Aoife Horgan Sabrina Krause Victoria Violette Kiley Yepes Gia Edwards		Sara Wiedeman Kylie McNally Alana Goldsmith Juliana Rafaniello Madison Carr

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 11 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 2.2 goals per match (as of November 5, 2023).

2 goals

• Kayla Barbosa – Wagner

1 goal

• Daniela De Souza – Central Connecticut
• Aoife Horgan – Central Connecticut
• Giavanna Inzerillo – Central Connecticut
• Marli Berry – Howard
• Mia Young – Howard
• Isabella Keogh – Merrimack
• Madison Carr – Wagner
• Jess Maraia – Wagner
• Olivia Rubbo – Wagner

All-Tournament team

Source: ^[5]

Player	Team
Abbie Burgess	Central Connecticut
Melina Ford
Nicolle Santos
Victoria Violette
Melea Earley	Howard
Trinity Knox
Caroline Howland	Merrimack
Isabella Keogh
Kayla Barbosa	Wagner
Sam Hughes
Juliana Rafaniello

MVP in bold

References

1. Northeast Conference. "2022 Northeast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament". northeastconference.org. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
2. Northeast Conference. "2023 Northeast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
3. Northeast Conference. "NEC Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
4. Northeast Conference (October 26, 2023). "Merrimack Clinches First NEC Women's Soccer Regular Season Title". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
5. "CCSU Adds Another Chapter To NEC Women's Soccer Legacy, Wins Record 13th Title In Dramatic Fashion". northeastconference.org. Northeast Conference. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.