Women's Soccer | 11/10/24 | 10:41 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Men's and Women's Soccer teams will begin their pursuit of their respective conference tournament titles this afternoon at the 2024 Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships at the Lithia & Driveway Fields in Medford, Ore.

On the Women's side of the action, the Fighting Saints (10-4-4, 7-3-2) enter the tournament with the four-seed, marking the second year in a row they have been in the top half of the bracket (two-seed 2023). They'll square off with an in-state rival in a quarterfinal matchup with the fifth-seeded Battlin' Bears (8-5-2, 6-4-2) of Rocky Mountain College.

Carroll and Rocky are the only two Montana schools who qualified for the postseason tournament, and Sunday's matchup will be the first meeting since the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the CCC regular season opener back in September at Nelson Stadium.

The Saints will likely try to get the CCC leader in both points (31) and goals (14), Delaney Moczan (Las Vegas, Nev. / SO), rolling early. Moczan was held in check in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, with Carroll's lone goal in that game scored early in the match by Jaymee Sheridan (Helena, Mont. / SR).

Carroll has been very good on the defensive end throughout the year as well, with the second most shutouts in the league (9). Goalkeeper Maria Ackerman (Billings, Mont. / SO) has been excellent when needed, but a strong back line has helped make her job easier, shutting down opposing attacks and feeding the ball to a high-powered group of forwards.

Sunday's quarterfinal will have a first touch of 2 p.m., and a live stream can be found HERE, free of charge. Live stats for the match can be followed along HERE.

For the first time in program history, the Carroll Men enter the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, having captured the CCC regular season crown with an impressive 11-1-1 mark in conference play.

The Fighting Saints have been dominant throughout the 2024 campaign, amassing the most wins in school history, and they've been rewarded with one of the two CCC automatic qualifying positions for the upcoming NAIA National Championship for their efforts.

The Saints haven't just been winning games, they've been doing it in impressive fashion. Carroll is averaging the second most goals per game in the league offensively (2.41), while boasting the lowest goal against average (.47) and most shutouts (13) in the conference.

The Men will start their conference championship off with a 5 p.m. tilt against eight-seed Multnomah (7-7-3, 5-5-3), who have qualified for the postseason for the first time in school history.

Carroll won the first meeting between the pair in September, a 2-0 shutout in Portland.

A live stream of the Men's game can be found HERE, and live stats HERE.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com this evening for full recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.

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