Women’s Soccer Games of Week (10/18 - 10/21)
This weekend brings a nice mix of rivalries and regular season conference championships to the forefront as both the Big 10 and ACC regular season champions should end up being crowned on Sunday afternoon. North Carolina and Duke also will be squaring off in what should be another epic showdown in the long history of that rivalry. Also, the great under the radar story of Michigan and their lockdown defense going up against Penn State should make a very interesting contrast of styles. It also should provide a very nice gauge of where the Wolverines are at heading into the postseason gauntlet of November. Maryland is looking to knock the high flying unbeaten, untied Florida State Seminoles from the ranks of the unbeaten and claim a regular season title under the leadership of first year head coach Jonathan Morgan, who has nicely picked up where Brian Pensky left off before he headed to Tennessee.
#15 NORTH CAROLINA (8-3-2, 4-2-1) at #6 DUKE (11-3-2, 5-2-2) Thursday, 7:00 PM, Eastern, Durham, North Carolina
This tobacco road showdown should be another knock down drag out heavyweight fight as both teams, while not in position to win the ACC Regular Season Championship, are still very talented and when you have a rivalry game with two elite squads you throw the records out the window. The Tar Heels have had a bit of an up and down season in the attack as they at times have struggled to score goals. The Florida State game is most prevalent in that regard as they were shutout by the Seminoles. The Blue Devils are coming off a tough draw against an evolving Wake Forest squad. The key is going to be the attack for Duke and creating scoring chances and most importantly finishing them enough to get a result. I have a sneaking feeling that both teams attack wise are going to get rolling and we are going to see a fairly high scoring affair at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday night.
#23 MICHIGAN (13-2-1, 7-0-1) at #4 PENN STATE (14-2-0, 8-0-0 ) Sunday, 1:00 P.M. Eastern, Jeffrey Field, State College , Pennsylvania
The Big Ten Championship should be on the line on Sunday afternoon as the Michigan Wolverines head into the always difficult confines of Jeffrey Field to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Michigan brings a very rock solid hard to break down defense into this contest as they have only allowed six goals heading into this final weekend of regular season play. It will provide a nice contrast to the high flying attacking nature of head coach Erica Walsh’s Penn State squad. Maya Hayes has been her usual explosive self in the attack as she has tallied 11 goals in just nine games heading into this weekend. This should be a very dynamic contest as both teams look to get strong overall national seeds come NCAA time.
#1 FLORIDA STATE (14-0-0, 7-0-0) at #9 MARYLAND (11-3-2, 6-1-1) Sunday, 1:00 P.M. Eastern, Ludwig Field, College Park, Maryland
The Seminoles come into the final weekend of regular season play in the ACC with their regular season championship destiny clearly in their own hands. They also have an opportunity to try and wrap the number one overall seed heading into the ACC Conference Tournament. Florida State survived a very difficult contest with Virginia last Sunday escaping with a 1-0 win on a 96th minute penalty kick in overtime by Ines Jaurena to secure three very valuable points for the Seminoles. Maryland has risen up and been one of the best stories in the conference especially at Ludwig Field were they have taken it to the likes of North Carolina and Virginia at home. Scoring chances are most likely going to be at a premium for the Terrapins and Seminoles. For Maryland, Hayley Brock and Becky Kaplan have been huge in the attack as they have combined for 19 goals combined and are very dangerous if they can get behind opposing defenses. This has another very tight down to the wire feel of a match with one mistake by either squad most likely being the difference.
