Women's Soccer 2014 NCAA Tournament #2 Penn State Region 2nd and 3rd Round Game Breakdowns
#2 Penn State vs. Connecticut
Penn State had no problem with Buffalo in the first round as the Nittany Lions cruised to a 4-1 victory after a tough first half. A two goal blitz from Raquel Rodriguez and Megan Schafer in the 51st and 52nd minute slammed the door on the Bulls and sent Penn State through to the second round. The Nittany Lions also caught a break with Georgetown advancing over second seeded West Virginia and now will host the second and third rounds at Jeffrey Field.
Connecticut scored twice in the second half thanks to goals from Danielle Gotwik and Samantha McGuire and defeated a game New Hampshire side 2-0. The Huskies now get another shot at Penn State as they played earlier this season and dropped a 3-1 decision. It is going to be key for Connecticut to start faster in the rematch and not fall behind 3-0 like they did back on August 29th. They also will need to close the gap offensively as well and keep the quality chances on goal more even in order to advance.
Georgetown scored the biggest upset of the first round by going into Morgantown and battling West Virginia to a penalty kick shootout and winning the shootout 4-3. The Hoyas now get another shot at the Virginia Tech Hokies on a neutral field and will be looking to atone for a 6-1 loss earlier this season on the road in Blacksburg. The Hoyas just could not slow down the aggressive attack of the Hokies and were never able to recover all match long. If Georgetown can hang in early on in the match they will have a shot to get a result.
Virginia Tech continues to get stronger as they rolled over Dayton 4-0 to move on the second round. The Hokies will need to do what they did against the Hoyas in the first match back on September 5th and that is attack early and often to force Georgetown to play more defensively than they would like to. If Murielle Tiernan can have another two-goal performance like she did in the first go-around with the Hoyas then Virginia Tech should advance on to the Sweet 16.
Overall, this sets up well for Penn State to advance on to the Sweet and 16 and on to the quarterfinals since they are tough to beat at home. The winner of Georgetown-Virginia Tech should provide an excellent test for the Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16. The Hokies especially can score with Penn State without much of an issue.
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