CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After finishing with its most wins and conference victories since 2018, Austin Peay State University's soccer team prepares for the Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Soccer Championship where it faces No. 7 Bellarmine in a 2 p.m., Thursday match at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in Nashville, Tennessee.
Austin Peay (7-6-5, 5-3-3) enters its second postseason trip as a member of the ASUN Conference as the No. 6 seed after going unbeaten in seven of its last nine league matches.
The Governors had eight student-athletes earn postseason honors by the league this afternoon, with Ellie Dreas and Lindsey McMahon being named Second Team All-ASUN, Aniyah Mack and Ellie Dreas earning Third Team All-ASUN, Kiley Reese being tabbed to the All-Freshman Team, and Dreas, McMahon, and Hannah Zahn earning Academic All-ASUN recognition.
Baumgardt led the Governors in goals (six), shots on goal (26), and shots (67) this season, while she and Dreas were the only Govs to play in all 18 matches for APSU this season. Dreas followed Baumgardt in scoring with five goals.
Collectively, the Govs finished third in the ASUN in goals-against average (1.3) and goal differential (+1), while also ranking third in team save percentage (.775).
Austin Peay went 0-1-1 in last season's ASUN Championship as the No. 7 seed. The Govs advanced past No. 6 Kennesaw State, 3-2, in penalty kicks before dropping a 3-2 decision to No. 3 – and eventual champion – Florida Gulf Coast.
The Govs' No. 6 seed this season marks its highest since entering the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Soccer Tournament as the No. 5 seed.
On the other side of the pitch, Bellarmine (5-11-2, 4-6-1 ASUN) enters its first trip to the ASUN Championship since 2021 and on a three-match winless streak.
The Knights are led by ASUN Freshman of the Year McKenzie Carle who became the program's first ASUN superlative winner following her six-goal, two-assist campaign.
Bellarmine also had a pair of Second Team All-ASUN selections in defender Sidyney Rigsby and midfielder Emma Nicholson. Nicholson paced BU with seven goals and six assists in a season that included a four-goal match against Asbury, Aug. 25, and a three-assist performance against Queens, Oct. 10.
With a win against the Knights, Austin Peay advances to play host and No. 3 seeded Lipscomb in a 1 p.m., Sunday match at the Lipscomb Sports Complex in Nashville.
