Williams College freshman and Kapaa High School alumna Brianna Binder will soon compete for a national championship.
Williams College, an NCAA Division III school in Williamstown, Mass., reached the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Final Four.
“We’ve had a couple of tough games. It’s really exciting for our team to go to the Final Four,” Binder said in a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s kind of crazy that we’re going in the first place.”
Williams College will play against Christopher Newport University, from Newport News, Va., in the Division III semifinals on Nov. 30 on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Williams is seeking to win a second consecutive national championship and its third title in the past four years (2015, 2017).
Though competing for a national title is a benefit, Binder said it wasn’t the main motive for her when she committed to Williams earlier this year.
“It’s not my first reason. I really decided to go to Williams because of the academics,” she said. “The team in itself is such a special team. It’s great to be part of a team that loves to compete. We just get along so well. It’s just a bonus that we can compete as a high level.”
Binder was a four-time Kauai Interscholastic Federation girls soccer all-star, three times with Kapaa High School and once with Island School, and a two-time Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II all-tournament team selection.
Binder has scored one goal in 21 games played so far in her freshman year. The one goal was the game-winner in a 2-o win over the University of New England, from Biddeford, Maine, on Nov. 10.
Though she’s listed as a forward, Binder said she’s been put in several spots on the field.
“It changes a lot. I came in expecting to play forward. I’m actually playing all these different positions every single game,” Binder said. “The first couple of weeks, I started playing as forward. From then, I played outside back, flank and forward — getting a sense of all these different positions.”
Information from Williams College Athletics.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
