HICKORY, N.C. – The 32nd season of Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer saw the Bears go further in the NCAA Tournament than they ever had. LR advanced all the way to national semifinals for the first time in program history, falling to eventual national champion Grand Valley State. The Bears finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final United Soccer Coaches Poll, which is by far their highest ranking and finish in program history. Lenoir-Rhyne won its second regional championship in school history when it defeated Flagler in penalty kicks in the Southeast Regional Final, and advanced to the Final Four in Colorado Springs, Colo. after it defeated Florida Tech in penalty kicks. The Bears were seeded No. 7 in the Southeast Region and defeated the 2, 3, and 4 seeds on the way to the Southeast Regional Championship, and Florida Tech was the No. 5 seed out of the South region. Here’s a look back at the extraordinary season.
RESULTS
| Sept. 4 | at UNC Pembroke | W, 2-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 8 | vs. North Greenville | T, 1-1 (2 OT) | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 10 | at No. 4 Florida Tech | T, 0-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 15 | vs. Francis Marion | W, 6-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 18 | vs. No. 21 Limestone | W, 3-2 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 22 | at North Georgia | L, 1-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 25 | at Anderson | W, 2-1 | Recap/Box Score |
| Sept. 29 | at Coker | W, 5-1 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 2 | vs. Lincoln Memorial | W, 4-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 6 | vs. No. 14 Catawba | L, 2-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 9 | vs. Queens | W, 1-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 13 | at Mars Hill | W, 5-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 17 | at Tusculum | W, 5-1 | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 23 | at Newberry | L, 1-0 (2 OT) | Recap/Box Score |
| Oct. 30 | vs. Wingate | L, 1-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Nov. 3 | vs. Carson-Newman | W, 3-2 | Recap/Box Score |
| Nov. 6 | vs. Limestone (SAC Quarters) | W, 2-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Nov. 12 | vs. Queens (SAC Semis) | L, 1-0 (2 OT) | Recap/Box Score |
| Nov. 19 | at No. 10 Catawba (NCAA 1st Round) | T, 0-0 (3-1 PKs) | Recap/Box Score |
| Nov. 21 | vs. Queens (NCAA 2nd Round) | W, 2-0 | Recap/Box Score |
| Dec. 3 | vs. No. 18 Flagler (NCAA Regional Final) | T. 1-1 (4-2 PKs) | Recap/Box Score |
| Dec. 5 | vs. Florida Tech (NCAA Quarterfinal) | T, 1-1 (4-3 PKs) | Recap/Box Score |
| Dec. 9 | vs. No. 1 Grand Valley State (NCAA Semifinal) | L, 3-0 | Recap/Box Score |
Out of the gates strong: LR would not drop a decision in their first five games. That included wins over two ranked teams in UNC Pembroke and Limestone, a draw with No. 4 Florida Tech, a draw with North Greenville and a 6-0 drubbing of Francis Marion. In the first win over Pembroke, freshmen Evan O’Leary and Leonie Proessl scored their first career goals in their first career games for LR. The Bears only conceded three goals in the first five games, and Ria Acton scored four goals in the first five games.
Conference play opens with a bang: The Bears won their first three games of SAC play against Anderson, Coker and Lincolm Memorial, outscoring the opponents 11-2 in those wins. After dropping a game to Catawba, the Bears rattled off three more wins in a row over Queens, Mars Hill and Tusculum, outscoring those three opponents 11-1.
Clinch a home game in the SAC Tournament: With a 3-2 win over Carson-Newman in the regular season finale, Lenoir-Rhyne clinched a top-4 seed in the SAC Tournament, which means the Bears hosted a game in the tournament for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons. In the game they hosted, LR defeated Limestone 2-0 at Moretz Sports Complex for the second time in the 2021 season.
Two huge NCAA Tournament wins: Lenoir-Rhyne took down two titans of D2 women’s soccer in the Southeast Region on their way to the Final Four. In the first round, the Bears traveled to Catawba (18-0-3) and handed the Indians a loss in penalty kicks. Then, two games later in the Regional Final, the Bears upset reigning Southeast Regional Champion Flagler in penalty kicks. In 2019, Flagler defeated Wingate 8-2 in the Southeast Regional Championship, but could only muster one goal against LR this season.
Key freshmen: Two out of the top three goal scorers on the season for LR were freshmen. Leonie Proessl (12 goals, including three game-winning goals) led the Bears in scoring, while Evan O’Leary (eight goals, two game-winning goals) was third on the squad. Freshman center back Vivien Becker-Peralta anchored the second best defense in the SAC for head coach Gary Higgins, earning First-Team All-Conference honors.
All-Region Honors: Ria Acton was named First-Team All-Region, and freshmen Prossel and Becker-Peralta were named Second-Team All-Region.
Acton comes back strong: After a spring season that saw her score seven goals and four game-winning goals, Ria Acton had another great year in the fall before an injury towards the end of the regular season cut her season short. Acton scored nine goals in just 14 games this fall, including a hat trick against Lincoln Memorial. Two of those goals were game-winning goals, and she also earned Second-Team All-American honors from the CCA to go along with First-Team All-Region honors.
Gavaghan has the clutch gene: After being held scoreless until the regular season finale against Carson-Newman, sophomore Kara Gavaghan provided a huge offensive boost late in the season. The La Crosse, Wisconsin native scored two goals against C-N to clinch a SAC Tournament home game, both goals in a 2-0 NCAA Tournament win over Queens in the second round, and also scored the game-tying goal late in regulation in the NCAA Quarterfinals against Florida Tech to send the game to overtime and eventually penalty kicks where the Bears would prevail.
Cameron carries the Bears: Hickory native goalkeeper Grayson Cameron had the best stretch of her collegiate soccer career when it mattered most for LR. In the four NCAA Tournamet wins, Cameron only allowed two total goals in regulation time. The Bears also won three games in penalty kicks on their run to the Final Four, and in those games, Cameron stopped a combined eight penalty kick attempts by the opponents. Cameron also carried a 4.0 GPA in her time at LR, and was named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American.
Awards Won
Grayson Cameron: CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-District, 3rd Team All-SAC, SAC Defensive Player of the Week (9/14)
Ria Acton: 2nd-Team All-American (CCA), 1st-Team All-Region, 1st-Team All-SAC
Leonie Proessl: 2nd-Team All-Region, 2nd-Team All-SAC, SAC Offensive Player of the Week (10/19)
Vivien Becker-Peralta: 2nd-Team All-Region, 1st Team All-SAC
Stephanie Figueiredo: 3rd-Team All-SAC
Evan O’Leary: 3rd-Team All-SAC
Allie Zueger: 3rd-Team All-SAC
Kara Gavaghan: SAC Offensive Player of the Week (11/9)