OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College women's soccer team will not only have new look on the field unveiling their new uniforms for the 2023 season, but their competition will also be much different as the program moves to Division II status in the NJCAA. They had competed at the D-I level since the program's inception in 1999. 

"The decision in going to Division II was to keep our soccer program on a level playing field with similar teams in our conference," said JCCC Athletic Director Tony Tompkins. "We have done this with men's and women's basketball, softball and volleyball and it has been beneficial for those teams. I believe this will be beneficial for both our soccer programs as well." 

"Our coaches have done a great job in putting together a competitive schedule in preparing our players for the next level," Tompkins continued. "The competition will be very high at the conference and the region for D-II. There were multiple teams ranked all last season from our conference and I expect it to be the same this year." 

The Cavaliers will be tested right out of the gate in 2023, when they travel to Arizona to face Phoenix College on August 18. The Bears have qualified for the NJCAA D-II National Tournament three straight years, winning the championship in 2020 and last season while posting an 18-2-1 record. Two days later they face Scottsdale Community College who finished 12-5-0 and was ranked 20^th to end the season in 2022. 

Johnson County returns home to host five straight matches, including their conference opener against Neosho County on September 6. 

Also highlighting the schedule are home-and-home conference matches against Allen Community College and Pratt Community College. Allen closed out the 2022 season ranked 17^th with a 12-5-0 mark, and Pratt won the conference title with a 12-2-1 record and were ranked 14^th in the final NJCAA Poll.

The schedule also features home-and-home matches with conference foe Hesston College and Central Community College-Columbus and Southeast Community College out Region 9 in Nebraska.   

The Region 6/Plains District Tournament is scheduled to open on October 25 with the championship on November 3^rd in Wichita, Kan. The winner will advance to the NJCAA D-II National Tournament November 12-18 in Tucson, Ariz.