KANSAS CITY, Mo. -  The Road to Pensacola rolls on as 40 teams have earned a ticket to the 2025 NAIA Women's Soccer National Tournament, First and Second Rounds presented by Select Sport America. For the first time in the program's history, the Marian women's soccer team has been named the No. 1 overall seed and will be the top team in the championship bracket.

The first and second round will take place on Thursday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 22 at campus sites around the nation, the winners from each site will then pack a bag and begin to converge on Pensacola, Fla., where the final site will be played starting on December 1 and go until only one team remains on December 8 and is crowned a champion.

Marian, who has been the No. 2 team in the country in the most recent pair of NAIA Coaches' Polls, has ascended to the No. 1 team in the NAIA entering the NAIA Tournament. This is the first time in program history the Knights will be the No. 1 team in the bracket, matching their prowess in the NAIA's RPI rankings throughout the year.

This year's field will also be the second time in the past 42 seasons that the defending national champion will not have the opportunity to defend its title. The last time that happened was in 2001, after Simon Fraser (B.C.) won the Red Banner the previous season.

Six teams in this year's field have won it all in the past: Cumberlands (Ky.), Keiser (Fla.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Northwestern Ohio, Spring Arbor (Mich.), and William Carey (Miss.). The Blue Raiders lead the field in both red banners raised and appearances, claiming four as they make their 25th appearance in the national tournament.

The Mustangs of Morningside (Iowa) ended the longest national tournament drought of any team this year, snapping a 10-year absence.

While it's never easy to win a national championship, this year puts an exclamation point on that. The combined record of the field is 550-117-92, boasting a winning percentage of 78.6%. The winning percentages of the field from 2024 and 2023, 79.4% and 78.3%, respectively.

Two conferences lead the way, qualifying a total of five teams each in the Crossroads League and Heart of America, while the Mid-South Conference trails, qualifying four teams this year. The Cascade Collegiate Conference and the Sooner Athletic Conference both qualified three teams.

Joining Marian from the Crossroads League are Indiana Wesleyan, Taylor, Grace, and Spring Arbor. Below is a quick scout of each of the three teams in Marian's bracket.

The winner of the Indianapolis bracket will play the winner of No. 16 Taylor and Central Methodist in the Round of 16 in Pensacola, Florida. 

Scouting The Teams
Marian will be the top team in the bracket in Indianapolis, and are the No. 1 team in the NAIA entering the national tournament. The Knights are 18-0-2 overall on the season, winning the Crossroads League Regular Season while finishing as the runner-up in the league tournament, falling to Grace on penalties. Marian is led by CL Player of the Year Katie Koger, while head coach Justin Sullivan was named as the league's Coach of the Year. Marian went 8-0-1 in their conference season, and have allowed just two goals since September 24. The Knights had nine total selections to their All-Crossroads League honors.

St. Ambrose finished as the runner-up in the Chicagoland Conference and went on to defeat St. Francis (Ill.) 1-0 in the CCAC Championship game on Tuesday, November 11. The Fighting Bees have won seven consecutive games entering the NAIA Tournament, and have not lost a game since September 20, when they fell 1-0 against Holy Cross. The Bees played Marian in their season opener on August 23, falling to the Knights 1-0. Four Bees were named to the CCAC All-League teams.

Aquinas was the WHAC Tournament Runner-up, earning an automatic bid to the tournament. The Saints are 11-6-1 this season, and finished among the top-three teams in the WHAC in the regular season. The Saints had six total All-WHAC honors, including former Knight Catherine Hoff, who was named as the WHAC Newcomer of the Year. The Knights have played Aquinas six times since 2012, and hold a 5-1 record in that span. The last meeting between the two saw Marian win 5-1 in the 2022 regular season, while Marian also has won 1-0 over Aquinas in the NAIA First and Second Round, with that coming in the spring championship of the 2020 season. 

Game times for the NAIA Tournament First and Second Round will be announced on Monday afternoon. 

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.