The Brevard College women’s soccer team (18-0-1) capped off its storybook regular season and USA South Tournament run by clinching the program’s first USA South Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship with a 5-4 penalty kick result against no. 2 Southern Virginia (12-6-2) on Saturday afternoon at Ives-Lemel Family Field.
The Tornados earn the conference’s automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA DIII Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament, giving BCWS its first-ever national postseason opportunity in the NCAA.
Following a highly captivating 110 minutes of action on the pitch full of critical defensive stops for the Tornados, the title was decided with a penalty shootout. Impressively, five Tornado underclassmen – Maicie D’Alessandro (freshman), Carissa Jenkins(freshman), Sienna Fox (sophomore), Kinlee Mozley(sophomore), and Lillie Teague (junior) – converted from the spot to clinch the first tournament title for the Tornados. Junior goalkeeper and USA South Tournament Most Valuable Player Abby Nunez made a crucial penalty save on top of her seven individual saves in the contest that kept SVU off the scoreboard.
Despite a 24-9 shot advantage from the Knights, the Tornado defense did not waver at all through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime frames. BC’s defense withstood eight shots on target and five total Knight corner kicks.
USA South Conference Player of the Year Mikayla Zvekan led BC’s counterattack with three total shots, with Julia Needelman, Nunez, Mozley, and Zvekan all taking shots on target for the Tornados in the contest.
BC’s impressive defensive effort was anchored by Nunez and several contributions from its defensive backline and midfield, as critical clearances and tackles put Brevard in a position to clinch the title with its PK triumph. Moreover, five Tornados – Sophia DePasquale, Mikaela Edwards, Kiara Porcelli, Nunez, and MK Smoak – played all 110 minutes of the match for Brevard.
D’Alessandro matched the Knights’ first make with one of her own to tie the shootout, 1-1, and Jenkins converted BC’s second penalty to answer SVU’s conversion. Fox then put BC up 3-2 in the shootout, and Mozley tied things back up at 4-4 with her PK make. Following SVU’s second miss of the shootout, Teague – a junior defender from Charleston, S.C. – stepped up calm, cool, and collected and drilled her attempt to give the Tornados their first USA South Tournament crown.
With the 110-minute scoreless draw, Brevard’s unbeaten streak now reaches 37 matches — the second-longest active unbeaten streak in NCAA Division III women’s soccer and the second-longest active streak across all divisions of NCAA women’s soccer. BC’s 32-match home unbeaten streak that began on Oct. 18, 2022, is preserved for yet another calendar year.
For their combined results on the pitch throughout the conference tournament, a program-record seven BCWS student-athletes – DePasquale, Edwards, Jenkins, Mozley, Nunez, Porcelli, and Zvekan – were selected to the 2025 USA South Conference All-Tournament Team.
The Tornados will now await their draw in the 2025 NCAA DIII Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament, with selections announced on Monday, November 10 at 11 a.m., with a selection show airing on NCAA.com.
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