Women's soccer team secures NCAA berth

The University of North Georgia (UNG) women's soccer team is back in the NCAA Division II tournament for the seventh consecutive season in which the tournament has been held. For the second year in a row, the Nighthawks will start the NCAA postseason at home.

As the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional, UNG (13-4-3) will host No. 7 seed Lees-McRae (10-3-5) at 3 p.m. Nov. 13 in Dahlonega, Georgia. The winner of that contest faces the victor between No. 3 seed Francis Marion (15-4-1) and No. 6 seed Lenoir-Rhyne (13-6-1) in a 3 p.m. Nov. 15 second-round matchup.

In the Nov. 7 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) championship game, the Nighthawks fell 2-1 to Columbus State (15-3-2), which is ranked sixth nationally and will host the other four-team Southeast Regional pod as the region's No. 1 seed. Earlier in the week, UNG defeated Flagler 6-1 in a Nov. 4 PBC semifinal.

Seventh-year UNG head coach Kayley Ralton has led the Nighthawks to the NCAA tournament six times, with the only exception being when the spring 2021 COVID-19 season did not include an NCAA tournament. Ralton's teams have totaled an 83-29-15 record for a .713 winning percentage.

UNG has won at least one game in the NCAA tournament in each of the past three seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2024.

Senior forward Grace McGill (11 goals, 11 assists), junior midfielder Nina Lopez (12 goals, 6 assists) and freshman midfielder Mady Neff (8 goals, 4 assists) lead UNG statistically heading into the NCAA tournament.