I think the real question we need to ask here is, who wins in penalty kicks? Semifinal #1: Virginia Tech vs. Florida State (who wins in penalty kicks?) Semifinal #2: Virginia vs. UCLA (who wins in penalty kicks?) Title Game possibility #1: Virginia Tech vs. Virginia (who wins in penalty kicks?) Title Game possibility #2: Virginia Tech vs. UCLA (who wins in penalty kicks?) Title Game possibility #3: Florida State vs. Virginia (who wins in penalty kicks?) Title Game possibility #4: Florida State vs. UCLA (who wins in penalty kicks?) Of the three actual matches that will be played in this year's College Cup, I can almost assure you that at least one will go to penalty kicks. That's how close these matches will be. And if the Final is between UCLA and Florida State, then it's almost a sure thing it'll be 0-0 after 110 minutes and going into penalty kicks. If Virginia Tech has to go to penalty kicks at any point in the College Cup, then I think they'll have a slight psychological advantage, hence about a 52% chance to win in the penalty shootout (instead of 50%).
I agree it may come down to the cleanest keepers. There have been some weak moments but also some great saves. Wys seems to come up with the big saves when needed but can be caught flat at times, Rowland is a very strong keeper and can play huge at times- weakness seems to be low corner shots, Sterns has seemed pretty shaky under high pressure which she has not often faced- weakness is not catching clean, and Canadian Colpitts has been staying steady under some high pressure and has experience of national team games at U20 level. All 3 US players also have NT experience so it may just come down to who plays the cleanest on the big stage.
PK's between Rowland and Wys may go to 10+ Wasn't it Wys that stopped 3 PK's in 2011 ACC Championship???
VT's Dayle Colpitts is fantastic goalkeeper, she's been invincible wall lately - what she did in SC match was simply amazing. She WON that game. If you didn't see it, you would not believe goalkeeper is able to make that kind of saves one after another like it was nothing, save three PKs in row, almost single-handedly stop roaring SC offense. She diplomatically says in interviews "they helped me there - I helped them here", but not his time! Late in SC match all I 'd seen was fearless Dayle Colpitts standing alone among bodies of her fallen teammates in front of Santa Clara terrifying attack line shouting bravely: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!".
One thing is for sure. If someone scores a goal this weekend, please celebrate it. It may be the only goal we see in the entire College Cup (let alone a penalty shootout).
WPS, I like how you ask the questions about penalty kicks, yet craftily avoid answering them. After VT's last two match ups against FSU, I can see this weekend's match going to ET. Did you see the ACC final? How well did VT do against FSU? I know the score but didn't see the match.
EspnW College Cup preview http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...rning-questions-ncaa-women-soccer-college-cup
2013 Women's MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalists announced: http://www.nscaa.com/news/2013/12/2013-mac-hermann-semifinalists-release
Virginia may lose in the semifinal, Virginia may lose in the final, but Virginia WILL score, no worries.
I think the UCLA side has relocated to Cary, but interesting tweet from yesterday: UCLA Women's Soccer@UCLAWSoccer 2 Dec Monday practice for the #WCollegeCup has begun. Thanks to @ncwomenssoccer for letting us use your field! http://twitpic.com/dnczug
Looks like there may be some rain on Friday and Sunday. I'm wondering how wet conditions could affect these match ups. Who does it favor?
As long as it's not cold this weekend in Cary, NC. I don't want to leave Chicago in bitter cold just to go down south for more cold. That would suck.
Updated forecast now shows a high of 77 degrees (low of 51) on Friday. And the updated forecast now shows a high of 36 degrees on Sunday. What a drastic change from Friday to Sunday.
just seeing whos paying attention. this could be fsu's year. but if they get down, i will put my money on colpitts over wys to pick up her team. since no fortunes will actually chage hands, fun to speculate.
Virginia Tech's only chance to beat Florida State (without going to penalty kicks) is to win 1-0. Because FSU is not giving up more than one goal.
Yes, but you forget the amazing stat that FSU has come back to tie or win like 13-14 games in the last 10 minutes of the game. They know how to "pick up" no matter who is doing the picking up! Will be a great game!
Hey, MRAD12, have a great time. Wish you could have been here for the SCU game. It was one of the best full game soccer displays I've ever seen.