The 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season was the 42nd season of NCAA championship women's college soccer.
The season began on August 17, 2023, and concluded in November 2023. It will culminate with the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, with the College Cup being held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
were the defending NCAA Champions. The Bruins were unable to defend their title as they were defeated in the first round of 2023 tournament by UC Irvine 1–0. Florida State faced off against in the final. Florida State prevailed 5–1 and won their fourth overall title, all of which have come since 2014. Stanford's 36 game streak of allowing one or fewer goals was snapped and this was the first match where the Cardinal allowed five or more goals in a game since 1996. This was the first national championship match between two undefeated teams and Florida State became the first undefeated champion since Stanford in 2011.
Changes from 2022
Coaching changes
There were 33 coaching changes during the 2022–23 offseason.
ProgramOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointmentReferences Abilene Christian Casey Wilson Not Retained October 31, 2022 Stephen Salas December 20, 2022 Alcorn State Kevin Larry None provided — Jenna Wallace April 18, 2023 Belmont Heather Henson Not Retained November 10, 2022 Kelsey Fenix December 22, 2022 Cal State Bakersfield Sebastian Vecchio Resigned May 11, 2023 Bernardo Silva July 5, 2023 Cincinnati Niel Stafford Fired November 14, 2022 Erica Demers December 7, 2022 Coastal Carolina Paul Hogan Resigned October 28, 2022 Jo Chubb December 20, 2022 Dartmouth Ron Rainey Contract not renewed November 6, 2022 Taylor Schram December 15, 2022 Davidson Adam Denton Resigned, accepted headcoaching job at Richmond December 15, 2022 Riley Piechnick February 9, 2023 Delaware Mike Barroqueiro Resigned October 24, 2022 Kelly Lawrence November 14, 2022 Denver Jeff Hooker Not returning May 1, 2023 Julianne Sitch June 7, 2023 Eastern Illinois Jake Plant Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Incarnate Word December 16, 2022 Dirk Bennett February 10, 2023 Gardner–Webb Mike Varga Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at UT Martin June 5, 2023 Tina Murphy July 14, 2023 Incarnate Word Marc Verriere (interim) Interim term ended December 22, 2022 Jake Plant December 22, 2022 Indiana State Julie Hanley Stepped down December 2, 2022 Paul Lawrence March 24, 2023 Jacksonville State Neil Macdonald Contract not renewed October 24, 2022 Sean Fraser December 8, 2022 Louisiana–Monroe Sean Frasier Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Jacksonville State December 8, 2022 Will Roberts March 14, 2023 Marist Brittany Kolmel Resigned December 2, 2022 Nicole Pacapelli January 17, 2023 Mississippi Valley State Frank Davies None Provided — Kayleigh Lambrechts January 13, 2023 Nevada Erin Otagaki Fired November 7, 2022 Vanessa Valentine November 22, 2022 Northwestern State Stuart Gore Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Troy January 4, 2023 Ian Brophy February 23, 2023 Oklahoma Mark Carr Fired April 17, 2023 Matt Mott April 20, 2023 Ole Miss Matt Mott Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Oklahoma April 20, 2033 Molly Rouse May 18, 2023 Prairie View A&M Christiane Lessa None provided — Abe Garcia August 2, 2023 Richmond Marty Beall Contract not renewed October 27, 2022 Adam Denton December 15, 2022 Southern Illinois Craig Roberts Fired April 4, 2023 Graeme Orr May 30, 2023 St. Bonaventure Steve Bdarski Fired November 1, 2022 Donny George January 5, 2023 Toledo T.J. Buchholz Fired October 28, 2022 Mark Batman December 19, 2022 Troy Robert Lane Resigned October 31, 2022 Stuart Gore January 4, 2023 UAB Erica Demers Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Cincinnati December 7, 2022 Lisa Mann January 18, 2023 UMBC Vanessa Mann Accepted position withOregon Youth Soccer October 17, 2022 Rick Stainton December 14, 2022 UT Martin Phil McNamara Resigned May 19, 2023 Mike Varga June 5, 2023 Utah Tech Molly Rouse Resigned; accepted headcoaching job at Ole Miss May 18, 2023 Lexi Brown June 26, 2023 UTEP Kathryn Balogun Not Retained November 1, 2022 Gibbs Keaton December 7, 2022 Wofford Emily Grant None provided — Elissa Post May 24, 2023
Conference realignment SchoolPrevious conferenceNew conference BYU WCC Big 12 Campbell Big South CAA Cincinnati American Big 12 Charlotte C-USA American Florida Atlantic C-USA American Houston American Big 12 Liberty ASUN C-USA Jacksonville State ASUN C-USA New Mexico State WAC C-USA North Texas C-USA American Rice C-USA American Sam Houston WAC C-USA NEC UAB C-USA American UCF American Big 12 UTSA C-USA American Western Illinois Summit OVC
The 2023 season was the last for at least 18 teams in their current conferences.
SchoolCurrent conferenceFuture conference Arizona Pac-12 Big 12 Arizona State Pac-12 Big 12 California Pac-12 ACC Colorado Pac-12 Big 12 Kennesaw State ASUN C-USA Merrimack NEC MAAC Oklahoma Big 12 SEC Oregon Pac-12 Big Ten Oregon State Pac-12 WCC Sacred Heart NEC MAAC SMU American ACC Stanford Pac-12 ACC Texas Big 12 SEC UCLA Pac-12 Big Ten USC Pac-12 Big Ten Utah Pac-12 Big 12 Washington Pac-12 Big Ten Washington State Pac-12 WCC
Other headlines August 12, 2022 – The Indiana University and Purdue University systems announced that Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis will be dissolved in 2024 and replaced by separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions. The current athletic program, the IUPUI Jaguars, will transfer to the new IU Indianapolis. October 14, 2022 – Conference USA announced that ASUN Conference member Kennesaw State would join C-USA in 2024. July 20, 2023 – The Colonial Athletic Association announced a name change to Coastal Athletic Association. October 4, 2023 – The Division I Council approved changes to the transfer window for all sports. In fall sports other than football, including men's and women's soccer, the transfer portal now opens for a total of 45 days. A 30-day fall window opens 7 days after championship selections are made, followed by a spring window from May 1–15. October 23 – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced that Merrimack and Sacred Heart would join from the Northeast Conference in July 2024.
Rankings
Preseason polls
United Soccer CoachesRankTeam 1 (8) 2 North Carolina 3 Notre Dame 4 Duke 5 Virginia 6 Florida State 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 BYU 14 Pittsburgh 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Clemson Top Drawer SoccerRankTeam 1 2 North Carolina 3 Florida State 4 5 6 Virginia 7 Notre Dame 8 Duke 9 10 11 12 BYU 13 14 15 Pittsburgh 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Regular season Major upsets In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by a team ranked 10 or more spots lower or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked No. 15 or higher.
All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
Date Winner Score Loser August 24 3–1 9 24 USC 4 Duke August 27 2–0 14 September 7 1–0 15 11 Notre Dame September 14 3–2 10 September 16 1–0 1 BYU September 21 3–0 13 25 2–1 14т September 29 9 September 30 13 October 7 Michigan State 3–2 14 Michigan October 8 2–1 6 October 15 1–0 12 October 18 San Francisco 13 Santa Clara October 19 24 11 USC October 22 21 Wisconsin 4 October 29 15 Santa Clara 2–1 12 Michigan State 20 Pittsburgh 2–1 (2OT) 3 North Carolina November 1 Texas 1–0 4 Texas Tech November 3 2–1 (2OT) 14 Brown November 4 Texas 3–1 6 BYU November 5 1–0 10 Arkansas Iowa 12 Wisconsin November 10 2 November 17 Texas 2–1 12 Wisconsin
Conference standings
Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular Season Champion(s)Tournament WinnerConference TournamentTournamentDatesTournament Venue (City) ACC Florida State 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 First Round: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedsSemifinals and final: WakeMed Soccer Park • Cary, North Carolina America East Binghamton Maine 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed American Memphis 2023 Tournament October 31 – November 5 Premier Sports Campus • Lakewood Ranch, Florida ASUN Lipscomb Florida Gulf Coast 2023 Tournament October 26 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Atlantic 10 Saint Louis 2023 Tournament October 27 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Big 12 Texas Tech Texas 2023 Tournament October 28 – November 4 Round Rock Multipurpose Complex • Round Rock, Texas Big East GeorgetownXavier Georgetown 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Maryland SoccerPlex • Boyds, Maryland Big Sky Montana Idaho 2023 Tournament November 1–5 Lumberjack Stadium • Flagstaff, Arizona Big South Radford 2023 Tournament November 2–5 Sportsplex at Matthews • Matthews, North Carolina Big Ten Michigan StateNebraska Iowa 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Lower.com Field • Columbus, Ohio Big West Cal State Fullerton UC Irvine 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion CAA Towson 2023 Tournament October 26 – November 5 Quarterfinals and semifinals: Campus sites, hosted by top two seedsFinal: Hosted by top remaining seed C-USA New Mexico State Liberty 2023 Tournament November 2–5 Robert Mack Caruthers Field • Ruston, Louisiana Horizon Milwaukee 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 4 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion Ivy Brown Harvard 2023 Tournament November 3–5 Stevenson-Pincince Field • Providence, Rhode Island MAAC Quinnipiac 2023 Tournament October 26 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed MAC Western Michigan Ohio 2023 Tournament October 26 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Missouri Valley Drake Valparaiso 2023 Tournament October 26 – November 5 First Round and Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and Final: Hosted by #1 seed Mountain West San Diego State Utah State 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 4 Madrid Sports Complex • Laramie, Wyoming Northeast Merrimack Central Connecticut 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Ohio Valley Tennessee Tech Morehead State 2023 Tournament October 27 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Pac-12 UCLA No Tournament Patriot Army Bucknell 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed SEC Arkansas Georgia 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 5 Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex • Pensacola, Florida SoCon Western Carolina 2023 Tournament October 24 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Southland Lamar 2023 Tournament November 1 – November 5 Dr. Jack Dugan Soccer and Track & Field Stadium • Corpus Christi, Texas The Summit Denver South Dakota State 2023 Tournament October 27 – November 5 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Sun Belt South Alabama Old Dominion 2023 Tournament October 30 – November 5 Foley Sports Tourism Complex • Foley, Alabama SWAC Grambling State 2023 Tournament November 2 – November 5 PVAMU Soccer Complex • Prairie View, Texas WCC Gonzaga No Tournament WAC Utah Valley Grand Canyon 2023 Tournament October 29 – November 4 CBU Soccer Stadium • Riverside, California
Postseason NCAA Tournament
Final rankings Rank United Soccer Coaches TopDrawerSoccer.com 1 Florida State Florida State 2 3 Clemson Clemson 4 BYU BYU 5 Pittsburgh 6 Pittsburgh North Carolina 7 8 North Carolina 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Notre Dame 17 Notre Dame 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Award winners All-America teams
2023 United Soccer Coaches All-America Teams First Team Second Team Third Team Madison White, GK, Texas Tech Hannah Anderson, DF, Texas Tech Eva Gaetino, DF, Notre Dame Julia Leas, DF, Georgetown Lilly Reale, DF, UCLA Laveni Vaka, DF, BYU Jasmine Aikey, MF, Stanford Onyi Echegini, MF, Florida State