St. Norbert’s Katie Vanden Avond has set the Division III women’s record for most career goals. She scored her 125th goal against UW-La Crosse on Oct. 24, sliding past Katie Pettigrew of Luther, who netted 124 from 2001-2004.

“Nothing like this could have ever happened if it wasn’t for this school, this team and this coach,” Vanden Avond told Herosports.com. “I consider myself incredibly lucky to be a Green Knight and that I got to play college soccer in my hometown.”

St. Norbert retired her No. 3 jersey last week. They decided to retire her number before she was done playing, which is a testament to how good she has been throughout her career. Vanden Avond has scored in all but two games this season, coming in with 34 goals and a 2.13 goals per game average. If she can score six goals in her final two games—a tall order, but not impossible for the best goal scorer in Division III history—she will beat another record: highest goals per game average for a season, which currently stands at 2.17. And if St. Norbert can squeak into the postseason, she may have a shot at the record for goals in a season, which Kary Sturtz set in 1988 at 43.

Vanden Avond took the field on Wednesday to try and build on her record.

Let’s keep the goalscoring theme going.

Vanden Avond leads the pack, and with just two games remaining she pretty much has the goalscoring title locked up. The race for second place, however, is quite close.

Riley Graham of Purchase, Dakotah Sparman of North Central (MN), and Washington and Jefferson’s Jordan Toohey are all tied at 27 goals, and Lake Forest’s Michelle Greenway trails right behind them with 26.

Graham and Toohey have set school records, and both in impressive fashion. Graham scored five goals against SUNY-Maritime in the record-breaking affair, and Toohey added four to her season total against Waynesburg to set a school record. Toohey is a sophomore and Graham a junior, so look for them to build on their impressive performances in the future.

The lone senior in the running for second place, Greenway has had an impressive career. She became the first player in school history to reach 200 career points. Greenway’s Foresters face Vanden Avond’s Green Knights on Sunday in what should be quite a showdown.

At 4.82 goals per game, 14-3 Davis & Elkins leads Division II women in goals per game. They have climbed to a Bennett ranking of 88 after starting the season at 199, thanks to four monstrous victories. They beat no. 260 Ohio Valley 11-0 twice, and no. 263 Salem International 15-0 and 18-1. One could easily call this beating up on inferior teams, but that first victory over Salem International was a battle of two teams ranked in the 200s (Davis & Elkins was no. 203 at the time).

The Senators have been quite erratic with their play. Without the four high scoring affairs, they would average just more than two goals per game (2.08). The team’s high scorer, and tops in the nation, is freshman Katrina Giantsopoulos. Her 29 goals edge North Alabama’s Chloe Richards and her 26 goals; both players lead the rest of the field by a wide margin, with third place sitting at just 19 goals.

Giantsopoulos, like the team, has benefited from the four routs: 14 of her 29 goals have come in those four games. Yet 15 goals in the other 13 games is still pretty consistent, and she has only been held scoreless four times this season. She is also tied for the lead in assists, sharing the top spot with Grand Valley State’s Marti Corby at 12 apiece.

Palm Beach Atlantic leads Division II men in goals per game at 4.13. The Sailfish are pretty much the opposite of Saginaw Valley. Saginaw Valley sits in second place at 4.06 goals per game, and they boast two of the top three goal scorers in the country: Jordan Kalik and Tyler Channell.

Only one player has broken double digits in goals for Palm Beach Atlantic—Lucas DaSilva leads the team with 13 goals. The next top scorer for the team has managed just seven goals, but the team is incredibly balanced: 11 players have netted more than one goal. With one game to play, the no. 4 ranked Sailfish sit at 13-1-1 and look like a tough out in the conference tournament, which starts next weekend.

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