The Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team reached the second round of the NCAA Championship for the fourth consecutive season and qualified for the national tournament for the fifth year in a row in 2024 to continue a run of recent success.
The Spartans, who ended the season with a record of 9-5-5, faced Skidmore in the opening round of the tournament on the campus of Messiah University in Grantham, Pennsylvania. Junior Jamie Goldfarb scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute of a 4-3 victory over the Thoroughbreds. The team's three leading scorers, senior Sydney Schenk, junior Molly Shamah, and junior Alexis Sassower, all found the back of the net in the contest. CWRU battled the fifth-ranked Falcons in the second round, holding one of the nation's best offenses scoreless for 88 minutes. However, a Messiah goal with 70 seconds left in regulation ended Case Western Reserve's season.
The team began the season by not losing its first 11 contests, including all 10 of its non-conference games. After a 5-0 season-opening win over Kenyon, CWRU traveled to Washington and secured a victory over Puget Sound and a draw with Pacific Lutheran, one of eight teams the squad faced that reached the postseason. Three consecutive shutouts followed the trip out west, before the team won three of its final four non-conference games with a 1-1 tie at Wittenberg. Junior Andrea Silva helped the team defeat Penn St. Behrend, another postseason participant, with a 90th minute goal in a 2-1 win. The Spartans will carry a 52-game regular-season non-conference unbeaten streak in 2025, going 48-0-4 in those contests.
The University Athletic Association saw seven of its eight members qualify for the national tournament, including national champion WashU and semifinalist Emory. In the final NCAA Power Index rankings, six of Case Western Reserve's conference opponents finished in the top 30 nationally. The Spartans earned a 3-2 road victory over Chicago, who finished the season in the national quarterfinals, with goals from Sassower, Schenk, and first-year Taylor Brackett. CWRU also tied NYU, who reached the round of 16, and Brandeis during conference play. The team scored against #1 WashU, one of seven goals the national champions conceded in 25 games.
Individually, Sassower received All-Region Fourth Team honors, Goldfarb and Shamah were named to the All-UAA Second Team, and Schenk received All-UAA honorable mention.
Sassower started 18 of the team's 19 games and led the squad with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. She scored twice in a victory over Mount Union on September 18 for her first career multi-goal game and recorded a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Chicago on October 25. Goldfarb played in 15 contests in 2024, making 12 starts. She scored three times during the season with all three goals winning games for CWRU. Goldfarb finished the season with seven points on three goals and one assist. Shamah, who started 18 games for CWRU this season, found the back of the net eight times and added an assist for 17 points. She scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Baldwin Wallace on September 11, scoring both Spartan goals for her first career multi-goal game. Schenk started all 19 games for Case Western Reserve in 2024, ending her career with 32 starts and 62 appearances in four seasons. She scored six goals and contributed one assist for 13 points in 2024.
Junior forward Ceci Dapino, who started all 19 games for the Spartans, tied for the team lead with four assists and scored three times for 10 points. Defensively, senior defender Katie Rishel and graduate student goalkeeper Maggie Storti both started every game for CWRU in their final seasons. Sophomore defender Kat Tsarouhas, senior forward Carolyn Koutures, and first-year midfielder Abby Welker all appeared in all of the team's games, and junior midfielder Mackenzie Mueller made 15 starts with 18 appearances.
The Spartans earned the following honors during the 2024 season:
The following were the 2024 statistical leaders for the Spartans:
