Big Ten Soccer Review – Addicted To Quack

All 18 schools in the Big Ten participate in women’s soccer. The B1G was well represented in postseason play, with 10 teams reaching the NCAA tournament. Of those ten, USC and Penn State reached the Elite Eight but lost, and the Big Ten was not represented in the Final Four.

The ranked teams at the end of the season were #3 USC, #7 Penn St., #12 Iowa, #13 Ohio State, #14 Michigan State, #15 UCLA, #23 Minnesota, and #25 Wisconsin.

The rankings for the rest of the B1G was #40 Rutgers, #44 Washington, #95 Illinois, #98 Purdue, #114 Northwestern, #117 Nebraska, #132 Indiana, #176 Oregon, #188 Michigan, and #195 Maryland.

Maryland

The Terps had a new head coach last season, former alum Michael Marchiano. Maryland’s record was 4-10-5 (1-8-2, Big-10/T-15th). This represented an improvement over 2023, where the Terps finished 3-10-5 with no conference wins.

Michigan

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The Wolverines finished 3-13-2 (2-8-1, Big-10/14th). Head coach was in her seventh season, and Michigan’s wins were all at home. The Wolverines fell significantly from 2023’s 7-7-4 record, but they only won three conference games.

Indiana

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The Hoosiers ended 2024 with a 6-9-2 (1-9-1 Big-10/18th) record. This was a precipitous fall from 2023’s 12-4-4 record. Head coach Erwin van Bennekom resigned at the end of the season “to pursue new opportunities”, and Indiana will have a new coach in 2025.

Nebraska

The Huskers ended 2024 with a 6-10-1 (3-7-1 Big-10/T-12th) record. 2024 was their worst record since 2019, but head coach John Walker has been leading Nebraska for 30 years and is not going anywhere. They are likely to rebound in 2025.

Northwestern

The Wildcats finished last season with a 6-10-3 (1-8-2 Big-10/T-15th) record; a drop from 2023’s 9-5-4 record. Unfortunately, at the time of this publication no roster or coaching information was available.

Purdue

Purdue ended 2024 with a 7-9-2 (3-7-1 Big-10/T-12th) record. This was a significant improvement over 2023’s 3-13-2 record (and no conference wins). This bodes well for head coach Richard Moodie, who was in his first year with the Boilermakers last season.

Illinois

The Illini ended last season with an 8-8-2 (4-6-1 Big-10/11th) record. This was a modest improvement over 2023; regardless, head coach Janet Rayfield decided to retire after 23 seasons of heading Illinois women’s soccer. They will have a new coach this year, Katie Hultin.

Washington

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The Huskies finished 2024 with a 10-7-4 (7-4 Big-10/T-6th) record. That was an improvement over their final season in the Pac-12. Washington upset 8-seed Utah St. in the first round of the NCAA tournament before dropping a very close 1-0 contest in the second round to 1-seed Mississippi St. Head coach Nichole Van Dyke will be entering her sixth season with the Huskies this year.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights posted an 11-5-5 (6-2-3 Big-10/5th) record last year, an improvement over 2023. They handed unbeaten USC a loss in the Big-10 tournament, where they lost in the finals to UCLA. After picking up a 6-seed to enter the NCAA tournament, Rutgers lost to unseeded UConn in the first round.

Head coach Mike O’Neill will be entering his 26th year with Rutgers, and his 12th as head coach.

Wisconsin

The Badgers wrapped up 2024 with a 10-6-5 (5-3-3 Big-10/9th) record – a drop from 2023’s 14-5-4 record. They lost in the first round of the B1G tournament to Ohio State, but were a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament and reached the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost 3-1 to USC.

Head coach Paula Wilkins has been very successful at Wisconsin and will lead the Badgers again in her 19th season this year.

Minnesota

The Gophers’ 14-5-3 (6-3-2 Big-10/T-6th) was their best record since 2016. Head coach Erin Chastain was in her fourth season in 2024, having previously been a star player for Minnesota in the ‘90s.

Minnesota was not able to get past Penn St. in the B1G tourney. In the NCAA tournament, the Gophers defeated South Dakota St. and 3-seed South Carolina before losing to 2-seed North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen.

Minnesota put nine seniors on the pitch last season, and this season they have four, so we’ll see if they can replicate their ‘24 success.

UCLA

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The Bruins came into the B1G with a 17-4-3 (8-1-2/2nd) record. They were the Big Ten champions in last year’s tournament. As a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament, UCLA was upset in the second round by 7-seed Virginia Tech, 2-1.

Their head coach, Margueritte Aozasa, is going into her fourth season heading the Bruins. Her first three seasons have been an enviable success, with two conference championships and a national title under her belt.

Michigan State

MSU’s 14-3-5 (7-1-3 Big-10/T-3rd) 2024 record was nearly identical to their ‘23 record. The Spartans had a bye in the first round of the Big-10 tournament and lost to Rutgers in the second round. They were a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament, and defeated Western Michigan and 4-seed Texas before falling to 1-seed Duke in the Sweet Sixteen.

Head coach Jeff Hosler is entering his fifth season with the Spartans. All four of his seasons were marked turnarounds for MSU, and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t be making noise in the upper echelon of the conference this year.

Ohio State

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The Buckeyes posted a 14-6-3 (6-3-2 Big-10/T-6th) record -their best since 2017. In the B1G tourney, OSU did not get a bye and bounced Wisconsin in the first round before losing to USC in the second round. They earned a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament, defeating James Madison and 6-seed Auburn before losing 1-0 to 2-seed Wake Forest in the Sweet Sixteen.

Head coach Lori Walker-Hock is going into her 29th season leading the Buckeyes. OSU has made 13 NCAA appearances in the past 15 seasons, and they’ll be back at it in 2025.

Iowa

The Hawkeyes had perhaps their most successful season ever in 2024, with a 15-3-4 (8-2-1 Big-10/T-3rd) record. They earned a bye in the B1G tournament but lost to Washington. Iowa entered the NCAA tournament as a 3-seed and defeated Missouri St. and 6-seed Georgetown before falling 1-0 in an upset to 7-seed Virginia Tech.

Head coach Dave Diianni is going into his 12th season leading the Hawks. It’s difficult to imagine him replicating a historical 2024 season, but the team is loaded with upperclassmen so we will have to wait and see.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions were 15-7-3 (5-4-2 Big-10/10th) in 2024. They have been fairly consistent under head coach Erica Dambach, who is going into her 19th season, and won the national championship in 2015.

In the Big-10 tournament, PSU defeated Minnesota in the first round but then lost to eventual champion UCLA. They picked up a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament and lost 2-1 in the Elite Eight to champion North Carolina.

Southern California

The Trojans were undefeated in their first season as a member of the Big Ten, finishing with an 16-1-4 (10-0-1 Big-10/1st) record. In the B1G tournament, USC was upset in the semifinals by Rutgers. They were a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament, and fell to 2-seed Wake Forest in the Elite Eight, 2-2 (WF advanced on PKs, 4-3).

Head coach Jane Alukonis was in her third season leading USC in 2024. The Trojans have been very consistent under her and there’s no reason to be fearful of a dropoff this year.

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As they did in women’s basketball, the southern California schools owned the Big Ten in their inaugural season in 2024. Can they do it again this year? We shall see – soccer has arguably better teams in the top of the conference than WBB does, so we’ll see how this season plays out.