College Games to Watch: October 10 to 15

Both Drexel and Monmouth enter this weekend with 1-0 conference starts, having taken down Hofstra. Drexel (6-5) took a narrow 2-1 win on the road, while Monmouth (8-2) enjoyed a 4-0 shutout at home.

Drexel senior captain Anna Castaldo earned the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Offensive Player of the Week honor after her standout performance in the Dragon’s shutout 6-0 shutout against La Salle. Castaldo recorded a pair of both goals and assists, her first multi-goal game of the season. Drexel closed out last weekend with a narrow 2-1 loss to former CAA opponent Delaware.

Monmouth's dominant conference opener against Hofstra last Friday helped the Hawks two conference weekly awards. Freshman Florence van Doorn earned Rookie of the Week after matching a career-high three points in the win, tallying both a goal and an assist. Charlie Bowman garnered CAA Defensive Player of the Week after recording two crucial saves to maintain a clean sheet, while notching nine saves in Friday's 2-0 loss to No. 4 Harvard.

Last season, the Hawks upended the Dragons, 2-1, in the CAA Conference Semifinal, after losing by that same score in the regular season.

This Friday, the number two and three teams in the country will spar in a critical conference test. Virginia (9-0) is having a sensational 2025 season, recently downing fellow Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) threat Duke in a double overtime thriller last weekend. Just one of three unbeaten Division I teams remaining, the Cavaliers swept the ACC weekly awards, with Emma Watchilla claiming Offensive Player of the Week after her standout performance against the Blue Devils—notching the game-winner, unassisted, on a breakaway. Fellow PA native and Defensive Player of the Week Madison Orsi helped lead the ‘Hoos to their fifth shutout of the season, and fourth against a ranked opponent.

North Carolina (10-1) is heading into this ACC test after securing a 4-1 win against Old Dominion, the program’s 12th straight win over the Monarchs. Freshman Isabel Boere and graduate transfer Kara Heck initiated the scoring in the first half, with Dani Mendez adding an insurance goal early in the second half. Mendez boasts 20 points on the season, already tied for the second most in her career, going into this matchup against her former team.

The Crimson and the Big Red meet this Saturday, as Harvard travels to take on Cornell.

Reigning Ivy League Champion Harvard enjoyed a 7-0 shutout against in-state foe Boston University on Monday to keep the Crimson perfect on the season. Sophomore forward Martha le Huray powered the offense with two goals and three assists, matching the program's record for most assists in a single game. Junior forward Sage Piekarski, who earned her second consecutive Co-Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, tallied two goals and an assist. Piekarski was crucial in the Crimson’s comeback win over UPenn, earning Harvard’s first lead of the game in the second quarter, and striking again just five minutes later, her first multi-goal game of the season.

Cornell is off to a 2-1 start in conference play, notably shutting out No. 17 Yale, 2-0, at the end of September. The Big Red most recently toppled LIU, 6-0, with six different players finding the back of the net. The win moved Cornell to 8-1, improving 5-0 at home and 3-0 on the newly finished Marsha Dodson Field. The Big Red will look to defend their unscathed home record against the Crimson who have an eight-consecutive win streak against them.

Lander and Newberry are rematching for their second conference meeting of the season, the first being an extremely tight game just a few weeks ago. Newberry won a narrow 2-1 victory in overtime, with Division II points per game leader (3.25) Parker Keeler grabbing the gamewinner. The Wolves have a perfect 9-0 record so far, taking down their three most recent opponents by a combined score of 22-3.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats are 7-2, recently falling to Belmont Abbey, 3-2. The loss was followed by a 7-0 win over Barton this Tuesday.

It's a rematch of both the 2024 Northeast-10 (NE10) Championship and 2024 NCAA Division II Second Round as Assumption hosts Saint Anselm.

Assumption (6-5) enters this match-up 5-1 in NE10 play, winning their last four consecutive games and having their single loss to Southern New Hampshire. Saint Anselm comes in with the same 5-1 conference record, with their loss being to No. 10 Adelphi.

Christopher Newport (12-0), the only undefeated Division III team, remains atop the NFHCA Coaches polls for the second-straight week via a unanimous vote. CNU is just the third program since the end of 2016 to earn the unanimous decision, with Middlebury earning it earlier this year. Junior Lindsey Loar earned the Captain’s first ever NFHCA Honorable Mention Offensive Player of the Week award after scoring four of the team’s six goals against then-No. 13 York and Rhodes last weekend. The Captains most recently faced long-time rival Salisbury this Wednesday, winning 2-1 in dramatic double-overtime fashion. Junior Caroline Hughlett sank her fourth career game-winning goal against a ranked opponent in the final second of the second overtime period.

Williams (6-3) looks to bounce back after dropping both of their last contests to nationally ranked New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rivals Bowdoin and Bates. Both matches were decided by a single goal–the first a 1-0 loss to the Polar Bears in overtime, and the second a 2-1 defeat to the Bobcats. Senior captain Kiki Higgins, who leads the team in goals (7), scored the lone goal against Bates. The Ephs will take on No. 14 Wesleyan in a conference test on Saturday before taking on the top team in the country on Sunday.

After they face Columbia for their next conference match on Friday, Yale will end the weekend in Storrs, Conn. to take on UConn.

Following a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to No. 8 Princeton, Yale capped off last weekend with a 2-0 shutout against in-state opponent Sacred Heart. With the win, the Bulldogs are now 7-2 overall, with both losses at the hands of Ivy League rivals. A 3-1 win against Brown earlier this season puts them 1-2 in Ivy League play.

UConn most recently upset No. 16 UMass, 2-1, on the road. Senior Sol Simone and rookie Lene Bujes each notched goals in the fourth quarter for a comeback win. 5-5 overall, the Huskies have played a high-strength schedule, falling to teams like No. 7 Liberty, No. 8 Princeton, and No. 4 Harvard.

In all-time meetings, the Huskies boast a perfect 24 win record, besting the Bulldogs 3-2 in their meeting last year.

It's rivalry weekend in Columbus, Ohio as Ohio State hosts Michigan on Sunday. The Buckeyes (6-5) hold a 2-1 record in the B1G, and have played all mutual conference opponents to Michigan (8-3), who sits at 3-1. Ohio State lost to Rutgers, 2-1 in OT, a game Michigan won 2-1. Alternatively, the Wolverines lost 1-0 to Maryland, which Ohio State picked up a 1-0 OT win.

Ohio State boasts one of the most effective forwards in Division I—Makenna Webster—who now ranks third in points per game (3.27) and goals per game (1.45). Michigan has won 14 of the past 15 meetings with the Buckeyes.

Princeton will open the week with a Monday night match against behemoth Northwestern, as the two teams take a break from conference play. The Tigers (6-3) currently top Division I in strength of schedule, with ten of their 16 games being against teams that have been ranked in the 2025 season. Princeton most recently earned a 2-1 conference win over Yale, putting them 2-1 in Ivy League play. Pru Lindsey netted one of the best goals over the season, and her gamewinning dunk into the cage earned her Co-Offensive Player of the Week and the No. 9 spot on SportsCenter Top Ten Plays.

Northwestern has been the team to beat all season. The Wildcats are 10-0, picking up two Big Ten (B1G) wins and a pair of  conference accolades this past week. In the 3-1 comeback win over No. 10 Iowa, redshirt freshman Juliana Boon posted five saves to earn her first B1G Freshman of the Week award. Ilse Tromp earned B1G and NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week honors after her two-shot, two-goal game. With this award, Tromp became the first-ever player to hit a B1G awards  trifecta, earning the B1G Freshman of the Week in 2023 and the Offensive Player accolade earlier this season.

Babson will host Bowdoin in a non-conference match on Tuesday.

Babson (11-1) continues to cruise through the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), now 4-0 after wins this past week over MIT and WPI. The Beavers' only loss of the season has been to No. 4 Middlebury, a team that Bowdoin just took down in shootouts for the first time since 2015. It was a momentous day for the Polar Bears, who are now 8-2 overall and 4-2 in NESCAC play. NESCAC Player of the Week Mackay Bommer scored the lone goal in regulation, while Lauren O'Donald made nine saves.

Last season, it was Babson who was victorious, claiming the 3-1 win after 14 years without a meeting.

East Stroudsburg (9-2) bounced back from two consecutive conference losses with a 9-1 victory against Thomas Aquinas, with eight different Warriors finding the back of the net. The pair of the defeats came from No. 5 West Chester and No. 2 Kutztown, as the Warriors now sit at 1-2 in the Pennslyvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) after a 3-1 win over Slippery Rock. Before facing Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg will take on No. 1 Shippensburg for the Homecoming Weekend this Saturday.

Bloomsburg (10-1) had their undefeated streak snapped in a 2-0 loss to No. 2 Kutztown last weekend. Goalkeeper Maura Greek finished the game with a career-high 12 saves, facing the Golden Bear’s onslaught of shots, and now holds the second best goals against average (0.55) in Division II. The Huskies will face Slippery Rock in final preparation before taking on the Warriors.

The top teams in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) will face-off in a rematch of the past three NJAC Championships on Wednesday. Rowan (9-3) notably topped No. 18 Lynchburg in overtime to cap last weekend, the win earning the Profs’ two conference weekly awards. Tess Herman earned her second straight Defensive Player of the Week, and Sydney Kowalczyk won her second Rookie of the Week honors this season after netting the equalizer against the Hornets and notching 5 points against Messiah.

TCNJ (7-3) blanked Kean, 7-0, in their conference opener on Tuesday, with junior Kara Wilson earning a hat trick. The Lions only have three losses on the season, with one being 2-1 to No. 2 Johns Hopkins. TCNJ will have another conference game against William Paterson on Saturday before taking on the four consecutive NJAC champs.

No. 23 Haverford vs. Washington College | 7:00 PM ET | Watch

Haverford breached the national ranking for the first time since 2021 after a hot 10-1 start to the season, marking the program’s best start. The Fords dominated conference opponent McDaniel, 6-1, last Saturday, then defeated Ursinus for the first time in program history this past Wednesday. Louisa Coughlin and Naomi York scored in both victories. Haverford is currently tied with Johns Hopkins with four wins in Centennial Conference (CC) play.

Washington (5-7) comes in 2-2 in conference after rebounding from a 3-2 loss to Muhlenberg with a 4-2 midweek win over McDaniel. All seven of the Shorewomen’s losses this season have been by one goal, with three coming in overtime.

Washington has won this match-up the past three years, after a four-year losing streak to the Fords.