The NCAA Division I women’s soccer tournament hasn’t played out in the manner many expected.
Defending national champion North Carolina, which owns a record 22 national championships, is gone. So are No. 1 seeds Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Virginia. A series of upsets has shaped the bracket, and now four teams remain.
Stanford, Duke, Florida State and TCU make up the Final Four of this year’s College Cup. Semifinal games will be played Friday at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, with Florida State facing TCU at 6 p.m. ET and Duke meeting Stanford at 8:45 p.m. ET. The championship match will take place at the same venue Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
Below is a look at the four remaining teams:
STANFORD
The Cardinal (20-1-2) are the only No. 1 seed still standing, making them the slight favorite. Stanford will be chasing its fourth national title and its first since 2019. No team has been more dominant in this year’s tournament — three of Stanford’s four wins have come by four goals or more. Senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey has been the centerpiece, recording either a goal or an assist in every tournament game.
Aikey is one of the most popular players in the country and is among the top NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) earners in women’s soccer. She’s a finalist for Top Drawer Soccer’s Player of the Year Award after being named ACC Tournament MVP. Other key contributors include Andrea Kitahata, who has scored in 12 of her last 18 matches, and Charlotte Kohler, who has registered at least one point in 19 of Stanford’s 23 games.
DUKE
The Blue Devils reached the Final Four last season before falling to eventual champion North Carolina in the semifinals. This year’s squad looks even stronger. Junior forward Mia Minestrella, who has scored six goals in the tournament, has been one of the nation’s top performers. She added a goal and an assist in a quarterfinal win over Washington and earned first-team All-ACC honors. Minestrella has 18 goals and five assists while leading Duke to a 17-4-1 mark under first-year head coach Kieran Hall.
Redshirt junior Kat Rader is also having a standout season. She has scored or assisted in 17 of 21 games and owns 32 career goals, including 13 game-winners. Goalkeeper Caroline Dysart has recorded 11 shutouts.
FLORIDA STATE
Ohio State had been this year’s Cinderella story with upset wins over Georgia, Notre Dame and Baylor, but the run ended with a 4–1 quarterfinal loss to Florida State. In that victory, junior forward Jordynn Dudley scored twice for the Seminoles. Dudley is one of five finalists for the Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year Award. Florida State stumbled in last year’s postseason after winning it all in 2023.
This marks FSU’s 15th College Cup appearance (second-most in NCAA history) and its fifth Final Four appearance in the last six seasons. Alongside Dudley, sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson has also been a top contributor, leading the team with 13 goals.
TCU
As a No. 2 seed, the Horned Frogs delivered one of the tournament’s biggest results by knocking off top-seeded Vanderbilt in overtime in the quarterfinals. TCU is led by senior forward Seven Castain, who has scored five goals in the NCAA Tournament while guiding the Horned Frogs to a 17-2-3 record.
If there is an underdog in this Final Four, it’s TCU. This is the Horned Frogs’ first-ever College Cup appearance. Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Geller has been exceptional throughout the tournament, posting a career-best nine saves in the win over Vanderbilt.
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