The University of Rochester women's soccer team has qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament, earning an at-large berth into the field after a solid regular season campaign this year.
 
This coming weekend, the Yellowjackets will head to Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont for the regional round, with Rochester taking on the University of Hartford in the opening round. The other two teams at the regional are host Middlebury and Westfield State.
 
The regional schedule this weekend features Middlebury and Westfield State playing on Saturday November 15 at 11 am, with Rochester taking on Hartford at 1:30 pm that afternoon. The regional final, pitting the two advancing teams, is set for Sunday, November 16 at 1 pm, with all games being played at Middlebury's Allan Dragone Track & Field Complex.
 
Ticket prices for the regional are $6.00 for adults, $2.00 for students and senior citizens, with children 2-and-under being admitted free to the event. Ticket sales start an hour before the start of the first scheduled game that day.
 
Rochester currently sports an 8-3-6 record and finished 2-3-2 in the University Athletic Association. UR was one of seven teams in the UAA to earn a berth into the tournament, showcasing the strength of the conference. Four of those teams were also selected to host regional pods this weekend. A school-record ten nationally-ranked teams graced the Yellowjackets schedule this year, including playing against the #2 team twice, #3, #4 and #7 teams in Division III.
 
Overall, the 2025 appearance is the 23rd NCAA postseason berth for the Rochester women's soccer program, and third straight under head coach Ashley Van Vechten. Rochester has won two NCAA Division III titles, coming back in 1986 and 1987 and overall is 25-16-8 in its 22 prior appearances in the postseason. The past two seasons, the Yellowjackets were selected to host regional rounds at Edwin Fauver Stadium in the Prince Athletic Complex.
 
Rochester has a history of playing at Middlebury in the NCAA playoffs, with the 2018 squad playing against Ithaca in the opening round at that location. The Yellowjackets ended up falling in a 1-0 game to the Bombers that year.
 
This year, the Yellowjackets have rode a strong defense to its current record, holding 14 of 17 opponents to one goal or less. That includes nine shutouts against what ended up being the fourth-toughest schedule based on win-loss percentage during the regular season.
 
Sophomore's Natalie Santangelo and Hannah Nagashima are leading the team in scoring this season, each notching three goals and four assists for ten points. First-year Delia McMullen matched that pair with three goals this season, finishing with seven points, while sophomore Claire Baim ranks fourth on the team with six points, aided by two goals and two assists.
 
Defensively, the Yellowjackets are led by field players in junior Eileen Harvey and sophomores Claudia Ferreira and Remi Cherkas, along with graduate student Sydney Moore who has logged the most minutes in goal. Moore currently sports a 5-2-4 record and has a 0.96 goals against average along with a .776 save percentage in 1,035 minutes. First-year keeper Eleni McGuire also has appeared in six games and has a 0.73 goals against average and .810 save percentage.
 
Regional host Middlebury received an at-large berth out of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), with both Westfield State and Hartford earning automatic qualification into the tournament by virtue of winning their conferences. Westfield State won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), while Hartford is the champions of the Conference of New England.