Incoming Denver Summit FC rookie Jasmine Aikey capped her Stanford career by earning the top honor in NCAA women's soccer, lifting the 2025 MAC Hermann Trophy last Friday.
Aikey is now the sixth Cardinal to win the award, joining fellow alums and USWNT standouts like Kelley O'Hara (2009), Christen Press (2010), Catarina Macario (2018, 2019), and Andi Sullivan (2017).
"I am so happy that Jasmine's hard work and dedication paid off, as she is one of the most talented and competitive student-athletes I have ever coached," said Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe in the school's Friday announcement.
The 20-year-old topped both Stanford and the ACC in goals scored this season with 21, tallying 11 assists as she led the Cardinal to both the 2025 ACC Championship and last month's College Cup Final.
Even more, her dominant season saw Aikey claim the 2025 MAC Hermann Award over fellow finalists and ACC stars Jordynn Dudley, a junior forward for reigning NCAA champion Florida State, and Izzy Engle, a Notre Dame sophomore attacker and the 2025 ACC Offensive Player of the Year.
With her Friday win, Aikey also made history as just the second student-athlete to win both the Hermann Trophy and the Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, joining Portland alum and international soccer's all-time leading scorer, Canada legend Christine Sinclair.
The forward won't be resting on her laurels for long, however, with Aikey now gearing up for next month's NWSL preseason after signing a two-year deal to join 2026 expansion side Denver Summit last Thursday.
"I'm ready to get to work and help set the standard in Denver," remarked the newly minted pro in a club statement.
Florida State sits on top of the world of NCAA soccer once again, as the No. 3-seed Seminoles staged a 1-0 upset of overall No. 1-seed Stanford in Monday night's 2025 College Cup final to secure FSU's fifth national championship.
For the second time in two matches, sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson played hero by netting the Seminoles' lone goal, breaking Monday's deadlock in the 87th minute to snag the national title — and this year's Offensive Most Outstanding Player award.
"I'm honestly just so grateful. My team worked so hard and I'm so glad we got the [winning] outcome, because we really went through it this game," Hudson said after the match.
Hudson's game-winner capped an impressive team-wide defensive performance that snapped the Cardinal's 17-game unbeaten streak, with goalkeeper and Defensive Most Outstanding Player Kate Ockene staging nine saves to keep Stanford — and their NCAA tournament record-breaking offense —— scoreless in Monday's rematch of the 2023 College Cup final.
The Seminoles now own five of the last 12 NCAA trophies, with their 2025 College Cup title marking FSU's third championship in the last five years, proving they haven't slowed down since legendary head coach Mark Krikorian left the program to join the Washington Spirit's front office in 2022.
As for the Cardinal, Stanford will rue missed chances after outshooting Florida State 18-8 in Monday's title game.
With a now 3-4 overall record in College Cup finals, Stanford's focus shifts to next season, when they will again aim to secure their first NCAA soccer championship since 2019.
The 2025 College Cup locked in its finalists last Friday, with the NCAA soccer tournament's overall No. 1-seed Stanford and No. 3-seed Florida State advancing past the competition in the semifinals to book an all-ACC championship match for the third straight year.
Stanford kept to their winning ways by ousting No. 2-seed Duke 1-0 on Friday, with senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey burying a 10th-minute free kick to take down the Blue Devils with her 21st goal of the season.
Florida State similarly landed a single strike to end the championship run of No. 2-seed TCU in their semifinal, benefitting from a second-half breakthrough from sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson in the game's 73rd minute.
A full half of the last 14 NCAA titles have gone to either the Seminoles or the Cardinal, with Florida State edging Stanford 4-3 in national trophies thus far.
On Monday, the Cardinal will hunt their first national title since their epic penalty shootout victory in 2019, when Stanford narrowly defeated NCAA women's soccer dynasty North Carolina 5-4 from the spot after a 0-0 draw.
Florida State, on the other hand, won the 2023 title with a 5-1 thrashing of the Cardinal.
Stanford arguably holds the advantage over their ACC rivals entering Monday's match, having handed FSU a 2-1 defeat on their own Tallahassee pitch less than two months ago.
How to watch the 2025 College Cup final
No. 1 Stanford will face No. 3 Florida State for the 2025 NCAA women's soccer championship at 7 PM ET on Monday, airing live on ESPNU.
Overall No. 1-seed Stanford has rolled through the competition in the first three rounds of the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, with the Cardinal booking their spot in this weekend's quarterfinals with a 6-0 thumping of No. 5-seed BYU on Monday.
Stanford has outscored their opponents 16-4 so far, ousting unseeded Cal Poly 3-1 in the first round and claiming a 7-3 second-round shootout win over No. 8-seed Alabama before bouncing BYU.
Elsewhere in the bracket, fellow No. 1-seed Vanderbilt is also still alive after the Commodores took down SEC rival No. 4-seed LSU in Monday's Sweet Sixteen.
Not every top seed is through, however, as ACC standouts Nos. 1 Notre Dame and Virginia both fell to Big Ten contenders in the NCAA tournament's early rounds.
Reigning Big Ten Champions No. 4-seed Washington sent the Cavaliers home in a Sweet Sixteen penalty shootout on Sunday, as the Huskies continue their run in honor of late senior goalkeeper Mia Hamant.
Unseeded Ohio State has also surprised, overcoming a mediocre 4-2-5 performance in 2025 Big Ten play by staging an upset run through the national tournament. After claiming golden-goal overtime winners to oust Notre Dame last week and No. 5-seed Baylor on Sunday, the Buckeyes will make their first Elite Eight appearance since 2010 on Friday.
No. 2-seeds Michigan State, Duke, and TCU, as well as No. 3-seed Florida State round out the quarterfinal competition, as the Big Ten joins the ACC in leading the charge toward the 2025 College Cup with three teams each in the Elite Eight.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer quarterfinals
The 2025 NCAA soccer tournament kicks off its Elite Eight round with three ACC vs. Big Ten matchups on Friday, when No. 2 Duke takes on No. 4 Washington at 4 PM ET before No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Florida State vs. Ohio State begins at 5 PM ET.
The last quarterfinal takes the pitch on Saturday, as SEC favorite No. 1 Vanderbilt faces No. 2 TCU at 7:30 PM ET.
All quarterfinals will stream live on ESPN+.
The road to the College Cup begins this weekend, as the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament kicks off with a stacked first-round field on Friday.
The strength of the ACC again leads the charge with three of the 64-team bracket's four top seeds hailing from the conference.
Snagging the overall No. 1 seed is Stanford, with the Cardinal outlasting fellow NCAA top-seed Notre Dame in a penalty shootout to claim their first-ever ACC tournament title last weekend.
Joining the Cardinal and Fighting Irish in the remaining No. 1 spots are the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers and the SEC-leading Vanderbilt Commodores.
Meanwhile, the 2025 tournament's No. 2 seeds — Michigan State, TCU, Duke, and Georgetown — are gearing up to play spoiler, with other underdogs also lurking throughout the bracket.
Already eyeing future upsets are four-time national champions and No. 3-seed Florida State, No. 4-seed and Big Ten champion Washington, and undefeated mid-major dark horse Memphis, who enters the 2025 field as a No. 7 seed.
The ACC's on-pitch dominance also sees defending champion North Carolina in an unfamiliar position, entering the 2025 NCAA tournament unseeded after the 22-time title-winners finished seventh in the conference behind a 12-6 overall and 6-4 ACC season record.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer tournament
The 2025 NCAA women's soccer tournament kicks off with 32 first-round matches across Friday and Saturday, all on ESPN+.
The action begins with unseeded Ohio State taking on No. 8-seed Georgia at 3 PM ET, live on ESPN+.
The University of Washington women's soccer team completed the 2025 Big Ten double on Sunday, when the No. 13 Huskies defeated the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans in a championship match penalty shootout to lift the conference tournament trophy — just one week after winning the regular-season title.
The weekend victory proved an emotional one for the Huskies, coming just days after the team lost 21-year-old senior goalkeeper Mia Hamant to Stage 4 kidney cancer on Thursday.
"Obviously, it's been a hard week but it just shows how much this team loves each other, how much they care about each other, and how much we love Mia," said University of Washington head coach Nicole Van Dyke.
"Mia's been with us the whole time," Van Dyke continued. "She's a part of everything we do and she will always be. I can't put into words how appreciative we are of the support that everyone that has given her, her family, this team, our program. I'm just so happy for these kids."
How to watch Washington in the 2025 NCAA tournament Selection Show
The Washington Huskies will now join the weekend's 29 other conference champions in finding out their 2025 NCAA College Cup paths on Monday, when the national committee reveals its 64-team Division I tournament bracket at 4 PM ET.
The 2025 NCAA soccer tournament Selection Show will stream live on NCAA.com.
The 2025 NCAA soccer postseason has arrived, with this week's conference tournaments setting the scene for November 10th's Selection Monday — and the 64-team Division I College Cup.
While 30 teams will earn automatic bids to the national tournament by winning their conference titles, all NCAA squads are looking to impress this week with 34 additional bracket spots awarded by the selection committee on Monday.
Stanford entered this week at No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings, with the ACC regular-season title-holders also earning a bye into Thursday's conference tournament semifinals.
"We've got to keep getting better," Cardinal head coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "If we want to win the national championship, you gotta learn from each game and continue to push forward and improve."
After sending four teams to the 2024 College Cup, the ACC remains on top of the women's college soccer landscape with four of the current Top-7 teams hailing from the conference — though other contenders loom.
The No. 3 Memphis Tigers remain the year's surprise success story as one of the sport's two unbeaten teams, with the mid-major squad now vying for their fifth American Conference championship this weekend.
Elsewhere, the No. 13 Washington Huskies and No. 9 Michigan State Spartans enter Thursday's Big Ten tournament semifinals as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, while upsets already ousted the top seeds from both the SEC and Big 12 tournaments: No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 TCU.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer conference tournaments
The majority of the 30 NCAA soccer conference tournaments will kick off their semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday, with live coverage of most matches across the Big Ten Network and ESPN platforms.
The UNC Tar Heels are having a rough start to the 2025 NCAA soccer season, logging two upset losses in the first two weeks of competition to plummet from their No. 1 spot in the preseason rankings.
North Carolina stumbled right out of the gate, becoming the first reigning national champs to drop their season opener in 23 years with their 2-0 fall to Tennessee, before the Tar Heels added a second 2-0 loss to Georgia last Thursday.
As a result, a precipitous poll drop have the once top-ranked Tar Heels now sitting at No. 22 in the nation, with Stanford rising behind four straight wins to take the UNC-vacated No. 1 spot.
Meanwhile, North Carolina's SEC conquerers earned big boosts: Georgia made their season rankings debut at No. 13 this week, and a four-match opening winning streak saw Tennessee skyrocket to No. 2.
Tennessee's early-season success also includes a second massive win, as the preseason-unranked Vols defeated 2022 champion and then-No. 4 UCLA 1-0 last Wednesday to prove that their shocking opening upset was far from a fluke.
Redshirt junior forward Shae O'Rourke is leading Tennessee's charge, netting five goals across their four games — including scoring all three against the two recent NCAA champs.
As for UNC, the Tar Heels have time to right the ship under newly permanent head coach Damon Nahas, with the team looking to log some wins over lopsided opponents before their next ranked matchup against fellow ACC foe No. 24 Virginia Tech on September 11th.
The 2025 NCAA soccer season kicks off with a full slate on Thursday, as longstanding powerhouses look to repeat last year's successes amid a continually shifting landscape.
Following a strong 2024 showing, the ACC is once again poised to house college soccer's upper echelon, with all eight of their preseason ranked teams cracking the Top 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
Even more, the conference boasts all of Division I's top four programs, with No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Florida State, and No. 4 Duke trailing reigning national champions UNC, who enter the 2025 season as the NCAA's No. 1 team behind senior scoring leader and 2024 MAC Hermann winner Kate Faasse.
While the ACC leads the charge, the rest of the Power Four will attempt to make their own waves with a roster of their own ranked teams.
Matching the ACC with eight preseason nods, the Big Ten is again ruled by Southern California's No. 5 USC and No. 8 UCLA for the second straight season.
As for the five SEC and three Big 12 teams on the list, only two cracked the poll's Top 15, with No. 6 Arkansas leading the SEC charge while No. 9 TCU is the Big 12's best prospect.
Perennial contender Santa Clara scored the only non-Power Four spot in the ranks, with the West Coast Conference titan siding in at No. 16.
How to watch Thursday's ranked NCAA soccer matches
The NCAA is wasting no time in putting top-tier soccer matches on the pitch, with Thursday's 2025 season opener set to feature two ranked matchups.
No. 11 Penn State will visit No. 4 Duke, with the Blue Devils hunting their first win over the Nittany Lions in 26 years. The 7 PM ET match will air live on ACCNX.
Elsewhere, No. 6 Arkansas will host No. 13 Iowa in the pair's first-ever meeting, as the Hawkeyes hope to hand the Razorbacks just their second home loss since 2021. The clash will kick off at 7:30 PM ET on SECN+.
The 2025 NCAA soccer preseason rankings
1. North Carolina (ACC)
2. Notre Dame (ACC)
3. Florida State (ACC)
4. Duke (ACC)
5. USC (Big Ten)
6. Arkansas (SEC)
7. Stanford (ACC)
8. UCLA (Big Ten)
9. TCU (Big 12)
10. Wake Forest (ACC)
11. Penn State (Big Ten)
12. Michigan State (Big Ten)
13. Iowa (Big Ten)
14. Virginia Tech (ACC)
15. Virginia (ACC)
16. Santa Clara (WCC)
17. Vanderbilt (SEC)
18. Ohio State (Big Ten)
19. Texas (SEC)
20. Mississippi State (SEC)
21. South Carolina (SEC)
22. Oklahoma State (Big 12)
23. Wisconsin (Big Ten)
24. Minnesota (Big Ten)
25. Texas Tech (Big 12)