The Explorers are no joke! They had a great run last year, but didn't get a ton of respect because of their SOS, this will help.
Add in Portland 1-0 North Carolina Miami Hurricans 4-1 Florida Gators Wisconsin 1-0 Notre Dame (Small upset, but an upset neverless)
Not a huge upset in rankings, but PSU was without its top two goal scorers from last year, Hayes and Schram, who were with the U-20s. Also a couple of other starters out with injury. Not as familiar with the UVA roster. Of course Swanson is gone, but how many players are on that squad? A very nice win in Charlottesville.
Steve Swanson and Morgan Brian were missing for the Cavs. Morgan Brian is one of the best, if not the best, Midfielders in the country. Still, considering Hayes and Schram were also missing for Penn St., this was a good, solid win. Not sure I would consider it an upset at all though.
That makes sense. My impression is that these two teams are pretty equal, they've had a very good non-conference series going for a while now. I'd probably call it a mild upset, just because it was on the road...if PSU were at home I would have given them the slight edge.
Well, be sure. Florida was a preseason top 10 pick in many circles. It is quite rare for a top 25 team, let alone a top 10 pick, to lose at HOME, by such a margin, to any unranked team. It is certainly good for parity of the sport that so many teams are capable of beating anyone.
I am just not sure how accurate these rankings are. I feel like it leads to over/under valuing these early wins. What if these teams prove to be just average but last year's success plus their roster leads us to over rank them? Then a Miami team beating an average Florida team isn't really an upset. I know we need a starting point but I wish we would wait 4 games and then put out a ranking. As it is, it's based on last year plus the same ole teams getting and staying ranked. But in the end I realize it's just a talking point. RPI and all that matter more. Just wanted to vent. Carry on.
Other than the upset of Florida, the score that caught my eye the most involved another SEC team. Missouri 5, Memphis 1 Memphis was a top 15 squad in most polls. That's a huge margin of victory for Mizzou. Should be interesting to see where each team goes from here. Especially since Memphis has a couple weeks off...
Memphis started 6 freshmen during the Missouri game, 3 of them were midfielders. Missouri pressed them all game long. Until their 3 world cup players return, I don't think Memphis will be their normal self, especially since 2 of those players are their best midfielders.
Did I read that Oregon state beat Portland? Is that somewhat of an upset? Also, didn't University of San Diego get beat 3-zip by Northridge or something? Seattle 5 St. Mary's 0.....the WCC not looking so sharp. Arkansas Little Rock goes down to Austin Peay in a big way, affirming my opinion that the Sunbelt is one of the worst in women's soccer...glad Denver is outta there.
Actually, the result that caught my eye was Northern Iowa beating Western Illinois. Looks like a tough campaign coming up for the Leathernecks . . .
Oregon State is a good club. On any given day against a young Portland team, not an upset to my mind. Northridge also a very good club with journeymen players. I think we are just seeing a lot more parity in women's college soccer.
Norcal I am glad to hear this...Knew that Oregon State has become a force to deal with and I guess it wasn't too suprising, especially since Portland had also just finished a tough game against UNC. And not too long ago I was waiting at the Fish Market in Del Mar, Ca when one of the Surf white teams came in I started chatting with the coach...he said most of the players were going in state to Fullerton, Northridge, Irvine, etc. Can't beat instate price of education and they won't be on the bench. So nice to see some parity and the coaches encouraging it.
I also think that versus even 10 years ago, the quality of coaching of all girls is much better. There are many more good teams not just the elite teams carrying good players. Girls generally see sports as a worthwhile activity even if you aren't going to go pro or play in the Olympics. So there is a larger pool of class players. I'm still amazed that the top recruits get so much attention. Can one player really make that big a difference on a field of 11? I believe UNC is seeing that AD is going to have to actually coach because the next tier of players he is coaching against is not much lower than the top tier he recruits. As far as California goes, its' hard to get those Cali girls to leave our great state. Some of the best players want to stay close to home. Unless there's a big scholarship, why would you leave? Mulitsport, what other sports do you follow? That's my next topic. I"m tired of the single-sport trend in club sports. Not good for the athlete at all.
I am a counselor in Colorado for the schools so I follow a lot of sports, a lot of schools, a lot of kids. On the women's side, basketball and soccer are the most prevalent but I have kids in skiing, , ice hockey, field hockey, gymnastics, mountain biking, and equestrian ....some in more than one sport in college. And yes, this business of only doing one sport is still around but not for everyone. There are plenty of kids who get scholarships to college BECAUSE they 1) have good grades, 2) play more than one sport. Not always a D1 situation but the scholarship money is often much larger. And these are high level schools academically and athletically...often a better fit and/or better all around environment with smaller classes, travel abroad, internships, and post graduate potential. Stanford and Duke are tremendous schools but you don't have to go to them to be an Oxford scholar.