Virginia / Duke Region Women's Soccer Tournament Breakdowns
Virginia as a number two seed received an interesting draw with Duke as the three seed setting up a possible rematch at Klockner Stadium from September 30th. The Cavaliers beat the Blue Devils on that afternoon in a thrilling 1-0 contest on a Makenzy Doniak goal in the late 88th minute. Tennessee is another sleeper team in this bracket that could make it to the Sweet 16 to face Virginia as well under the guidance of first year head coach Brian Pensky.
#2 Virginia vs. La Salle
Virginia comes into the first round of the NCAA Tournament rolling offensively with the trio of Caroline Miller, Makenzy Doniak, and an emerging Morgan Brian getting back into her freshman year form. The Explorers are the Atlantic 10 Conference champions and have beaten West Virginia which won the Big 12 regular season championship. They are led by Renee Washington and Kelsey Haycook, who have scored eight goals apiece. The Cavaliers are very difficult to beat in opening round contests at Klockner and should move through to the next round.
Colgate vs. Rutgers
Rutgers comes into this matchup with Colgate looking to ride the very skilled Jonelle Filigno who has 14 of the 30 Scarlet Knight goals in 2012. Filigno also has made her presence felt on the international stage as she was part of Team Canada’s Bronze medal performance at the 2012 London Olympics. The Raiders come in as Patriot League Champions knocking off favored Navy to snag the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. They are led by Jillian Kinter and Catherine Williams who have combined for 25 goals in 2012. If Rutgers can take advantage of Colgate’s defense then they should be able to grind out a couple goals and advance.
Tennessee vs. Miami (OH)
Tennessee is looking to get back rolling after coming up short against Auburn in the SEC Quarterfinals losing a penalty kick shootout 5-3. Hannah Wilkinson and Kylie Bono pace the offense as they have combined for 13 goals and 7 assists. Defensively, the Volunteers have only allowed 13 goals and are usually very difficult to break down. The Redhawks won the MAC Conference and have a record of 19-2-1 and are pretty potent offensively. Jess Kodiak has 12 goals and 11 assists on the year and will provide an interesting challenge in this match for Tennessee. The Volunteers will have to defend well in order to advance.
#3 Duke vs. Loyola (Md)
The Blue Devils come into the NCAA Tournament looking to gain back some of the momentum they had from earlier in the season. They are very dangerous in the attack with Laura Weinberg and are very capable of exploding at any moment offensively to put a team away quickly. The Greyhounds of Loyola won the MAAC Championship and head coach Katherine Remy Vettori returns to her alma mater. Senior forward Nicole Schiro is going to be counted on heavily for Loyola to pull the upset as she has tallied 15 goals in 2012 for the Greyhounds. The Blue Devils should be deep enough to be able to wear down the Greyhounds and advance.
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