Holmes, Heartland to meet in NJCAA semifinals at 12:30 p.m. Thursday
WICHITA, Kan. --- The No. 2 ranked No. 4 seed Holmes Community College Lady Bulldogs are returning to their fifth NJCAA Division II Women's Soccer National Tournament semifinals here tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. vs. Heartland Community College.
Holmes, 17-2, defeated Rock Valley 3-0 on Sunday night and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 1-0, on Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals. Heartland, who was the No. 3 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 4 in the final regular season poll, is 16-3-1 and defeated Sussex County, 9-0 on Sunday and Pima, 2-0, on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals.
Northwest and Jones will battle in the other semifinal contest at 10 a.m. The winners will meet in the championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Leading scorers for the Lady Bulldogs include: Tyler Grace Sims (NW Rankin), 6 goals, 9 assists, 20 points; Mallory Sutton (Saint Amant, La.), 7 goals, 6 assists, 20 points; Kate Gray Nesbit (NW Rankin), 7 goals, 2 assists, 16 points; and Emma Korhonen (Foley, Ala.), 5 goals, 6 assists, 16 points.; Kaylee Avant (Newton County), 6 goals, 4 assists, 16 points; and Maddie Caldwell (Jackson Prep), 6 goals, 2 assists, 14 points. The Lady Bulldogs are scoring 2.84 goals per match and are giving up less than one goal per match.
Aly Vancor (NW Rankin) and Lilly Callum (Madison Central) have split time in goal. Vancor has 820 minutes in goal, 25 saves and three goals against. Callum has 855 minutes in goal, seven goals against and 49 saves.
Valeria Agudelo (Colombia) leads Heartland with 31 goals, 9 assists, 71 points. Other scorers include: Karima Marhabi (Germany), 15 goals, 21 assists, 51 points; Josey Rogel (Waukegan, Ill.), 15 goals, 4 assists, 34 points; Carla Vizuete (Spain), 8 goals, 15 assists, 31 points; and Paula Igual (Spain), 9 goals, 8 assists, 26 points.
Maria Tomas (Spain) and Alice Arigucci have split time in goal. Tomas has 1150 minutes in goal, 2 goals against and 11 saves while Arigucci has 630 minutes in goal, 10 goals against and 33 saves.
Tickets
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at https://www.visitwichita.com/get-tickets/. Prices are $60 for an all session pass, $20 for a day pass; $15 for a student day pass; children five and under are free.
Stream
The entirety of the 2025 NJCAA DII Men's and Women's Soccer Championship will be broadcast live on the NJCAA Network at https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index and will be available to view on-demand at the conclusion of each contest. The NJCAA Network is available through a variety of pay-per-view pricing options: Day Pass - $12; Tournament Pass - $20; and All-Access Pass (all 2024-24 NJCAA Championship events) - $100.
Tournament website
The official tournament website can be found at https://njcaachampionship.prestosports.com/sports/wsoc/div2/headlines-featured.
Past History in the Tournament
The 2020-21 season was the first season for a NJCAA Division II Tournament, and the Lady Bulldogs made an appearance in Evans, Ga. Holmes went 2-0 in pool play and then defeated Heartland, 2-1, in double OT before falling to Phoenix in the National Championship game.
In 2021-22, the Lady Bulldogs played two pool games and went 1-1 and were unable to advance to the semifinals. The tournament was held in Wichita, Kansas.
In 2022-23, the Lady Bulldogs went 1-0-1 in pool play and advanced to the semifinals on penalty kicks. Holmes defeated Jones, 2-1, in the semifinals before falling to Phoenix in the National Championship Game. The tournament was held in Tucson, Ariz.
In 2023-24, the Lady Bulldogs went 2-0 in pool play and fell to Jones in the semifinals. The tournament was held in Tucson, Ariz.
In 2024-25, the Lady Bulldogs went 2-0 in pool play and fell to Northwest in the semifinals. The tournament was held in Huntsville, Ala.