The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is on a competition-wide bye, as the USA 15s player pool assembles for a weekend camp in Colorado. The field will return to action on Oct. 19 and wrap up by Oct. 27. The national championship occurs Friday, Nov. 1 and Sunday, Nov. 3 in Glendale, leaving Saturday open for recovery.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, four of the country’s best collegiate teams will contest two exhibition matches. At 2 p.m. MT, Life University and Central Washington will face each other on Infinity Park’s turf pitch. The Running Eagles finished runner-up to Lindenwood in the 2019 DI Elite National Championship, while the Wildcats, which rejoined the competition from NIRA, bowed out at the semifinal phase.
At 4 p.m. MT, two-time DI Elite national champion Lindenwood University will face Brigham Young University, which won the DI College Spring Championship in 2019. Penn State, the fourth DI Elite team, isn’t making the trip to Colorado but there is no dip in quality with BYU, which is based in Provo, Utah.
In addition to providing a valuable competitive opportunity for the players, these games will connect all 10 WPL teams with the high-achieving collegians. It will be great exposure for all entities involved and be a real connector between two elite levels of the game.