University of St. Thomas Athletics
Women's Soccer sets 18-game schedule in Division I debut
8/4/2021 11:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Coach Sheila McGill's Tommies will be tested immediately. They open their 18-game schedule with a road exhibition game Saturday Aug. 14 against the Minnesota Gophers (6 p.m.) in Falcon Heights.
The Purple have the honor of playing St. Thomas' first official D-I competition in school history when they travel to face UW-Green Bay for a non-conference game on Thursday Aug. 19 (7 p.m.). They also will play the Tommies' first home D-I contest as Northern Iowa visits South Field on Tuesday Aug. 24 for a 5 p.m. clash.
Nine of the Toms' first 11 contests are on the road. They close the season playing five of their final seven games at home at South Field.
The Tommies will play a nine-game Summit League schedule, starting with road games on Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 at South Dakota and South Dakota State.
"We are excited for our schedule to officially be announced," McGill said. "We have an interesting and challenging non-conference schedule, plus we'll get great competition within the Summit League.
"We are looking forward to our new rivalries and battles within this new era of D-I soccer. We can't wait to get started."
Familiar Faces
McGill is starting her 15th season as head coach, and her Tommie teams have only had one losing season in that span, with an 82-17-1 record over the last five seasons.
The Tommies' 2021 graduation losses included All-America forward Kate Heimer and four other All-MIAC honorees. The 2020-21 edition of the Purple has 20 returning players (eight seniors), led by All-America defender Alex Balfour and fifth-year defender Gaba Palazzo. St. Thomas also has 12 incoming freshmen from five states, plus one D-I transfer
St. Thomas went unbeaten in its last 22 games of its Division III era (17-0-5). The 2019 team swept the conference regular-season and playoff titles and tied for fifth place nationally.
Covid challenges scrapped the fall 2020 season for Division III teams, but the Tommies were able to play five games last spring. They recorded a 5-0 mark and outscored opponents by a 16-0 margin.
2021 St. Thomas Women's Soccer Schedule
Thur. 8/19 @ UW-Green Bay (7 p.m.)
Tue. 8/24 HOME Northern Iowa (5 p.m.)
Sun. 8/29 @ Chicago State Univ. (1 p.m.)
Sun. 9/5 @ Drake Univ. (1 p.m.)
Tue. 9/7 HOME Univ. of Wyoming (4 p.m.)
Sun. 9/12 @ Marquette Univ. (1 p.m.)
Thur. 9/16 @ Eastern Washington Univ. (3 p.m.)
Sat. 9/18 @ Univ. of Idaho (6 p.m.)
Fri. 10/1 @Univ. of South Dakota (6 p.m.)
Sun. 10/3 @ South Dakota State Univ. (1 p.m.)
Fri. 10/8 HOME vs Univ. of Denver (4 p.m.)
Sun. 10/10 HOME Univ. of Omaha (1 p.m.)
Sun. 10/17 HOME Western Illinois Univ. (1 p.m.)
Fri. 10/22 @ Oral Roberts Univ. (7 p.m.)
Sun. 10/24 @ Univ. of Mo.-Kansas City (1 p.m.)
Fri. 10/29 HOME Univ. of North Dakota (3:30 p.m.)
Sun. 10/31 HOME North Dakota State University (1 p.m.)
