Women’s Soccer Games of the Week 10/11 thru 10/14
The ACC shifts into overdrive this weekend with two potential College Cup semifinal caliber contests on Sunday as Virginia tries to stop Florida State’s undefeated season and a surging Wake Forest heads to Durham to take on a confident Duke squad. Also, the West Coast Conference has a key Sunday matchup with Santa Clara looking to get another positive road result against Pepperdine, the defending conference champions.
#7 VIRGINIA (10-3-1, 3-2-1) at #1 FLORIDA STATE (12-0-0, 5-0-0) Sunday, 1:00 pm, Eastern, Seminole Soccer Complex
A rematch of the 2011 Elite Eight round commences on Sunday afternoon down in Tallahassee as the Cavaliers will look to atone from just missing a berth in the 2011 Women’s College Cup. Virginia had some issues with defensive breakdowns in the past couple weeks leading to quick, multi-goal runs by Maryland and Wake Forest, intermixed with a big win over Duke. The ability of Caroline Miller, Morgan Brian, and Makenzy Doniak to control possession of the ball is going to be vital against a very tough Seminole defense and shoring up these defensive breakdowns is going to be key for Virginia to get a victory on Sunday.
Florida State has been rock solid and consistent, especially in the backline. They are leading the nation in goals against average at just 0.250. It has been the ability to address the backline issue so swiftly that has led the Seminoles to become the best team in women’s college soccer. Offensively, Tiffany McCarty continues to pace the Seminole attack with six goals and four assists in 2012. The ability to get her in behind the Virginia defense and get an early goal is going to be huge in forcing the Cavaliers to push forward earlier than normal in the match. These two teams have a habit of playing tight games and factor in the emotion of Senior Day and Florida State is probably going to be too much for Virginia.
#10 WAKE FOREST (10-3-2, 4-2-0) at #5 DUKE (10-3-1, 4-2-1) Sunday, 1:00 pm Eastern, Koskinen Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
The Demon Deacons come into this tilt on Sunday against the Blue Devils playing some of their best soccer of the 2012 season. Last Friday, they went into Klockner Stadium and knocked off a tough Cavalier squad, 2-1. Offensively, Wake Forest is led by Kristen Meier and Katie Stengel, who each have four goals and two assists. In goal, Aubrey Bledsoe has anchored the backline nicely as opponents have only scored nine goals so far this season.
Duke had a huge week last week racking up seven goals in two wins over Virginia Tech on the road in Blacksburg and Boston College at home in Durham. Laura Weinberg leads the offense for the Blue Devils as she already has an eye pooping 14 goals in the 2012 campaign. Both of these teams were College Cup finalists in 2011 and this game has the feel of a fairly high scoring, dramatic, knockdown, drag-out battle to the end with the Blue Devils using the home field to survive.
#22 SANTA CLARA (7-2-4, 0-0-1) at #23 PEPPERDINE (10-3-0, 1-0-0) Sunday, 4:00 pm Eastern, Tari Frahm Rokus Field, Malibu, California
The Broncos come into this matchup against the Waves with plenty of confidence. Last week they went into a very difficult situation in Provo against a high flying Brigham Young squad and played the Cougars to a scoreless draw, which is a good result in regard to building their NCAA Tournament resume. If Santa Clara is to get another result this weekend, they need to continue to defend at a high level and get the ball in the possession of Julie Johnston to let her orchestrate the attack and finish scoring chances when the opportunity presents itself.
For the reigning conference champion Waves, they are going to get everyone’s best shot. The team is led by midfielder Amanda Lecave with ten goals. The ability to get an early goal to force the Broncos to push forward is going to open up the game nicely for them. Senior Anisa Guajardo is the anchor to the offense as she has chipped in with six goals and a team leading eight assists. Guajardo’s ability to create scoring chances and create tempo will be critical keys to this match for the Waves. This should be a tightly contested battle with set pieces and the ability to finish scoring chances being the true difference in this match.
