It was quarterfinals day at the CommBank Emerging Matildas Championship with Victoria U16 Blue locking in their spot in the the semifinal.
U15 White kicked off the quarter-final action but went down 7–3. It was a heartbreaking finish, with the side level at 3–3 and just 10 minutes to play before conceding four late goals.
U16 White, playing at the same time, secured their first placement playoff win with a 2–0 victory over Queensland White. Lili Papanotas and Grace Corcoran were on the scoresheet.
In the next time slot, two more quarter-finals took place — with U16 Blue on Pitch 1 and U15 Blue on Pitch 5.
U16 Blue edged Northern NSW 1–0 in a tight contest, with Sophie Wenk scoring the only goal of the game.
Unfortunately, U15 Blue’s tournament run came to an end with a narrow 1–0 defeat to Northern NSW.
DAY FOUR VICTORIAN RESULTS
U15 Victoria White 3-7 NSW Sky
U15 Victoria Blue 0-1 Northern NSW
U16 Blue 1-0 Northern NSW
U16 White 2-0 Queensland White
Mifsud, who started her football journey kicking in the backyard with her mum and brother as a two-year-old, has always been a precocious talent in football and futsal. She joined her local team, Eschol Park Football Club, aged four and three years later, was selected to play U10s Girls at Marconi.
“Next, I went to play for U9s Boys SAP at Macarthur Rams FC and as a result, was headhunted to play with U10s Boys SAP Marconi,” Mifsud said in a 2023 interview. After a stint back in club football where her brother was playing, she went back the Rams.
Mifsud was a member of the same NSW Sky team that won the Under 15 title last year and she set them on course for the final four with a hat-trick in a thumping 7-3 win over Victoria White. The hat-trick took her to seven goals for the tournament – two more than she scored in last year’s successful campaign.
NSW Sky are dominating the goal scoring charts in both age groups, with Mifsud leading the way alongside teammate Grace Brian, while the under-16 Golden Boot race is led by NSW Sky’s Sophie Aungle.
In other results, Northern NSW dumped out Victoria Blue 1-0 in their quarterfinal. Summer Barden scored the only goal of a tight battle after seven minutes, while NSW Navy edged Queensland Maroon 2-1.
Queensland White advanced to the final four by beating South Australia 2-0 while in the final action of the day.
In the Under 16 competition, NSW Sky won their battle of the blues with NSW Navy 1-0, with Alannah Toouli scoring the winner in the 26th minute.
Western Australia continued their impressive form in the competition to race to a 3-0 first-half lead against South Australia, who managed to pull one back.
Sophie Wenk, who started the tournament with an opening day Olimpico goal, was the match-winner for Victoria Blue after 32 minutes as they edged Northern NSW 1-0.
The end of a pulsating day belonged to Adelaide Cains, who saved two penalties in a shootout to send Capital Football through to the semis after a 0-0 draw against Queensland Maroon.
“Today’s games have been very close and it’s been great to observe how players are dealing with that pressure," Junior Matildas boss Michael Cooper said.
“Some fatigue is setting in but the effort and passion is still there. Hopefully, over the next couple of days we continue seeing moments of quality.”
Adriana Tustonjic, of Victoria Blue, explained how the players are balancing the "pressure" for results with trying to impress scouts at the same time.
“The win feels amazing. It took a lot of us to really get there in the end,” she said.
“It was hard work in the game, but I feel like we all did well. We all put in the work and we got there. Soph's goal was amazing and that really just pumped us up to keep on going until the end.”
She said the team was boosted by being able to play in front of friends and family.
"There's definitely pressure. There are definitely a lot of emotions that go into it," she said.
"All the family and friends are around. It's good to be at home in Melbourne and just to see everyone is such a good feeling.
"With the scouts and the Junior Matildas coaches watching, obviously, it does add a bit of nervousness to it. But at the same time, I think if you just play, we all enjoy it."
The semifinals will be played on Tuesday.
In the U15 competition, NSW Sky will face Northern NSW at 10.40am, with Queensland White v NSW Navy at 12.20pm. In the U16s NSW Sky play Victoria Blue at 2pm with Western Australia against Capital Football at 3.40pm.
More than 400 players across 27 teams have contested the EMC, including a Charles Perkins XI bringing together First Nations talent from across the nation under the coaching of former CommBank Matilda Gema Simon.
This is the fourth time a First Nations selection has competed at the National championships, and the second year it has been named in honour of Mr Perkins, a trailblazer, activist and ex-football star.
Four players from last year's Charles Perkins XI have graduated to other state teams for this tournament, Markie Robinson and Tikka Jefferey of New South Wales and Ruby Bird and Matilda Wise of Queensland.
After a tough couple of opening matches in their under 15 group, the team grabbed a win over Capital Football.
The players, who are wearing the names of their mob on their shirts in a special addition to their jerseys, have bonded quickly, making the most of TikTok to include the full squad.
“The girls love that, that little touch there, having their mob on the back of their shirts,” Simon who works in player development in north Queensland said.
“A lot of them haven't played in an Indigenous jersey before, so to have that on their jersey and to represent themselves, their families and their mob on this stage is pretty incredible.
“The girls have been doing their little TikToks and everything else. They were like, if we score, then we're going to come over to the bench and do this.
“It’s just little things that they're doing amongst themselves and trying to include not only the players on the field, but the players off it, just like building culture.”
It’s also giving the players a chance to face the best from around the country in their age groups.
“That’s what the whole program is about, just opportunity, giving these girls the experience,” Simon continued. “A lot of them have come from club football. Some of them haven't played any football at all this year.”
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
CommBank Emerging Matildas Championships (Girls U15 & U16)
Dates: 9 – 15 April 2026
Location: Home of the Matildas, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria
HOW TO WATCH
KommunityTV is your destination for exclusive live streams of the 2026 CommBank Emerging Championships with News Corp full digital subscribers having exclusive access to watch the action.
Every match will be available to watch live and on demand. Live streams of all fields will be available for each day of the tournament, with replays posted at the end of each day.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
The Tournament Hub has all the competitions and results while the Tournament Guide features all the groups, fixtures and key information.
This article was originally published on football360.com.au