ST. PAUL, Minn. - Despite the cold Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Field, the University of Northwestern women's soccer team took the field for Senior Day in a must-win match against Minnesota Morris. The day began with a special celebration of the Eagles' eight seniors, Haley Mersberger (Kiel, Wis./Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah), Elle Bush (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji), Mallory Moseman (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy), Meghan Corbett (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral), Briella Babcock (Byron, Minn./Byron), Madeline Hallberg (Princeton, Minn./Princeton), Sophia Brenteson (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum), and Julia Bradley (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens), honoring their leadership and remembering their favorite moments from their UNW Soccer experiences. With high energy and a regular season title on the line, the Eagles delivered an emphatic 4-1 victory to claim the UMAC Regular Season Championship.

It took just under five minutes for Northwestern to strike first. Mersberger found the back of the net after receiving a pass from Marie Kendall (Dakar, Senegal/Dakar Academy), giving the Eagles an early lead. Just two minutes before halftime, Kendall produced one of the most exciting moments of the season with an extremely rare olimpico goal, bending her corner kick directly into the net to double Northwestern's lead. The players and fans took a moment to realize what Kendall had done, until the Morris keeper grabbed the ball out of the net, sending Reynolds Field into a frenzy of excitement.

The Eagles kept up their momentum in the second half. In the 67th minute, Kendall received a through ball from Corbett, took one touch, and fired a shot that slipped past the keeper's reach to extend the lead to 3-0. Morris managed to score in the 80th minute, marking just the fourth UMAC match this season in which Northwestern's defense has allowed a goal, but the Eagles answered immediately. Two minutes later, Mersberger struck again. She received the ball off a corner kick, amidst traffic, and like the talented veteran that she is, she controlled the ball, creating space for herself to bury her shot in the top of the net to close out her performance on senior night, winning her first UMAC championship.

Kendall led the Eagles' attack with two goals and an assist on 11 shots, while Mersberger recorded a brace of her own on seven shots. Babcock added three shots as the Eagles controlled 65 percent of possession and held Morris to just one shot on goal.

In his first season at the helm, head coach Danny Brandt has made an immediate impact on the Eagles program. Brandt guided Northwestern to a 9-1-2 conference record, earning the top seed in the UMAC Tournament and securing the program's first regular-season championship since 2017, and its sixth all-time. UNW will begin its postseason run at home against Minnesota Morris again on Wednesday, November 5, at 5:00 PM.