On the Washington website: UW Women Host Maryland Sunday Huskies-Terrapins clash slated for 5 p.m. at Husky Soccer Field
THIRD ROUND: #1 North Carolina v. #16 Santa Clara (Chapel Hill, NC) Nebraska v. Illinois (Lincoln, NE) #5 Portland v. #12 Texas (Portland, OR) #4 Notre Dame v. Connecticut (Notre Dame, IN) #14 UCLA v. Duke (Los Angeles, CA) #6 Ohio St. v. #11 Tennessee (Columbus, OH) #7 Princeton v. Boston College (Princeton, NJ) #15 Washington v. Maryland (Seattle, WA) My God, there is a lot of West Coast Whining on this thread. Sorry, but after two rounds, the wannabes have been weeded out. Hate to tell you but Penn State was legitimately ranked #5 by the NSCAA and Maryland took them down on their own field. I don't seen any of you mentioning the fact that Penn State beat Portland early in the season 2-1 on a neutral site and pounded Wisconsin on the road 4-0, the same Badgers team that got nipped by Notre Dame in the 2nd round. Boston College was tied for #25 with Stanford in the last NSCAA poll, Duke knocked off a legit UVA team 3-0. The teams that are in the Sweet 16 are the ones that deserve to be there. If you can't handle that, seek professional help.
I think that there were also some legitimate complaints about the seeding of Santa Clara at #16 when NSCAA (who ranked Penn St at #5) had them ranked at #4. But its funny how things turn out. With the strange seedings the top four west coast teams ended up in different quarters of the draw (which is how it should be). And now Washington is going to get to play Maryland after their regular season game was canceled. It should be a most interesting weekend. Sophister
Let's look at the seeds that were eliminated: Virginia: Lost to a very good Duke team. One of the toughest 2nd round matchups. The 3-0 score tells me that UVa didn't bring their "A" game on Sunday. Penn State: Lost to a Maryland team which was much better than their record indicates. Strength of schedule got the Terps in, and prepared them for tourney play. Kansas: Ousted by Nebraska. Another tough early round intra-conference matchup Texas A&M: Maybe the biggest "upset" of the 3rd round. Perhaps the Big 10 has surpassed the Big 12 in conference strength? Florida: Biggest upset of 1st round, no question. Arizona: Only west coast seed to lose, but also was playing in the cold in Storrs, CT and not at home. It is interesting to note that with the exception of Arizona, all of the seeded west coast teams advanced. The argument from the beginning was that that these teams were seeded well below where they belonged (especially Santa Clara) and it set up some very inequitable 3rd round matchups. What is certain is that UNC is clearly the #1 team. They are probably followed by Notre Dame as the true #2 this year. Beyond that in the east, there are 10-12 very good teams who could beat each other on any given date. The difference between Portland and the other west seeds is not 8 spots as the committee suggests. I would take UCLA, Portland, or Santa Clara as being not too far behind UNC and Notre Dame, and certainly near the top of those other 10-12 other very good teams. In fact SCU has legitimate claim to that #5 seed given to Portland for numerous reasons. The real shame is that after this weekend either UNC or Santa Clara will be finished, while either Illinois or Nebraska and either Princeton and Boston College will advance. I would take the Tar Heels and the Broncos over any of those other four any day. I believe that the 16 seeded teams were probably correct, just not in the appropriate order. Some of the best games of the tournament will be played this weekend. Potential final four matchups that will come two rounds too early.
OK, you make your points well and in reasoned, measured tones; I especially agree with you on this last point and add my name to the list of those who understand that Santa Clara did get a royal screwing. I just don't buy this idea that the entire west coast got hosed along with them. I would also add this: if we are agreed that we would take UNC and Santa Clara over the four east and midwest teams that you name above, I would also take them over all the west coast teams as well. Washington and Portland haven't proven that they belong in that category either. Nobody has...yet...we'll just have to see how this goes. Full disclosure: I am a Maryland fan and have also covered them for a long time as a reporter for a local zine, the Terrapin Times and make no apologies for my allegiances. I have watched a Maryland team that twice took North Carolina into 2OT and barely lost, with both games being played in North Carolina. I saw Maryland do that under severe injury adversity. The 11 that started the first game vs. UNC were the 11 that finished it; Shannon Higgins Cirovski had NO, Zero, nada reserves. If anybody including the goalie got injured, they would go one player down....and still they took the 'Heels into 2OT. It has been that way all year. The most subs Maryland has ever had available were three and that was for no more than a couple of games recently. Usually there has been just the one sub and that is a freshman midfielder, Shelley McDuff. They have been starting three freshmen (Kelly Rozumalski, Nataly Arias, and Stevie Dunning) and a sophomore (Lauren Krasko). In the win over Penn State, their only three subs were freshmen, McDuff and Carissa Gilbert and soph Liz Foley. Goalie Nikki Resnick is a junior who transfered in this year from Colorado. A team like that can hold their heads high, regardless of how much further they go in the tournament. I don't know how good their chances are against Washington, but the Huskies are going to be in a battle.
I'll be cheering my Dawgs on against your Terps, and hope in the end you'll have a new respect for Washington soccer when it's all over. I'm guessing we'll have about 2000 or so at the game
Maryland is a good team and deserve to be in the tournament. Had they not played in the stacked ACC (eight of ten teams reached the tournament), they probably would have had a much better record. However, it should be noted that in the two games against the Heels they were outshot 61-7. Their goalie is incredible, though.
LOL Sorry I couldnt resisit this!! I wouldnt be so proud of that little statistic...it almost appears the heels couldnt hit the broad side of a barn if they tried!!! 61 shots and they finally got one in!!! Anyone but the heels and it will be a good day for womens soccer.
Well, it's not so easy when Maryland throws ten players in the penalty box. It's not like it was our front three vs. their back three/four plus goalie, it was our front three vs. their entire team. Makes it a little tougher
OK, good point, but doesn't UNC face that all the time? I can't believe Maryland is the only team that went into a bunker against the 'Heels. I bet Anson has seen more of that than any coach in the country. btw, I am glad that legal matter is working out in Anson's favor. The whole case looked real sketchy to me. Shannon Higgins Cirovski has never had anything but positive to say about him and so has anybody else I know who has dealt with him. Squash said: "I'll be cheering my Dawgs on against your Terps, and hope in the end you'll have a new respect for Washington soccer when it's all over. I'm guessing we'll have about 2000 or so at the game" What makes you think I do not respect your team? The whole point of my first post here was that everybody who is in the Sweet 16 deserves to be there. Washington paid their dues too. Its too bad we couldn't play that game early in the season but that particular Friday was when we got the first of four remnants of the hurricanes that blasted Florida. We rarely get anything with hurricane force winds this far north -- although it has happened historically -- but we usually get a good dose of rain and tropical storm force winds. Kind of makes it tough for the goalies on high crosses.
I didn't take it as though you didn't respect Washington, maybe my wording was bad. I'm personally hoping both teams show up to play, and it's a great game.
Jones ratings for teams in the round of 16 are shown below. The higher rated team is listed first. A rating difference including a home field advantage of 60 is calculated. (based on the November 16 Albyn Jones ratings) At UNC - Saturday, 2pm ET __#1 UNC vs. #16 Santa Clara rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _1 North Carolina 20-0-2 2235 _(102) _7 Santa Clara___ 16-4-2 1946 __(70) ___difference____________ 289 +hfa= 348 At Illinois - Saturday, 5pm CT __Illinois vs. Nebraska rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) 29 Illinois______ 14-6-2 1789 __(70) 30 Nebraska______ 14-8-0 1781 __(74) ___difference______________ 8 +hfa= 68 At Portland - Friday, 7pm PT __#5 Portland vs. #12 Texas rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _3 Portland______ 19-3-0 2037 __(82) 17 Texas_________ 15-6-2 1840 __(66) ___difference____________ 197 +hfa= 257 At Notre Dame - Saturday, 7pm ET __#4 Notre Dame vs. Connecticut rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _2 Notre Dame____ 21-1-1 2043 __(85) 19 Connecticut___ 18-6-1 1830 __(70) ___difference____________ 213 +hfa= 273 At UCLA - Saturday, 4pm PT __#14 UCLA vs. Duke rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _6 UCLA__________ 16-6-0 1987 __(72) 13 Duke__________ 15-7-0 1877 __(76) ___difference____________ 110 +hfa= 170 At Ohio State, Sunday, 1pm ET __#11 Tennessee vs. #6 Ohio St. rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _9 Tennessee_____ 17-4-2 1915 __(73) 14 Ohio State____ 18-3-3 1874 __(72) ___difference_____________ 41 -hfa= 19 At Princeton - Saturday, 6pm ET __#7 Princeton vs. Boston College rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) 10 Princeton_____ 17-2-0 1905 __(85) 27 Boston College 15-6-1 1800 __(73) ___difference____________ 105 +hfa= 165 At Washington - Saturday, 5pm PT __#15 Washington vs. Maryland rank__team_________W-L-T rating (SE) _8 Washington____ 16-4-1 1938 __(70) 24 Maryland_______ 9-6-4 1807 __(72) ___difference____________ 131 +hfa= 191 Scoreboards: Friday, Nov. 19 (1 game scheduled) Saturday, Nov. 20 (6 games scheduled) Sunday, Nov. 21 (1 game scheduled)
Portland 2 Texas 0 Portland Shots 20 Saves 3 Corners 11 Texas Shots 6 Saves 6 Corners 3 Goals Scorers: MOORE, Kristen (P) MICHAELSON, Emily (P)
Portland had an easy road to elite 8...NCAA must like them alot.. Non football schools are second class and should be made to play on Tuesdays.
Santa Clara upset UNC in overtime, 1-0. Megan Kakadelas scored the winning goal. Congratulations to the Broncos!
This should not have happened in a third round game. The NCAA does not know how to seed and to bracket women's soccer. Even UNC's team web page commented on the improbable third round matchup with Santa Clara. Shame on the committee that put together this year's tournament brackets. Sophister
To be the best, you have to beat the best. Who says you have to have an easier road to get there. Parity is catching up with the Carolina dynasty. It was bound to happen. I enjoy Carolina soccer, and can appreciate what it has done for women's sports in general, but overall it will be exciting for women's soccer to have other programs contending for the national championship. Hey NC fans, there's still Duke.
Wow, I'm sure there may be some discussion, but in general I agree with the statement that UNC would have had to beat SCU to make the championship anyway. I appreciate the fact that I got a chance to see such a soccer game. Competition is great. It is great when Carolina wins. I wanted to see them advance further, but they got beat. That's how competitive sports work. Here are just a couple of pictures from the end of the game... Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4
parity my ass. which team was the only one to finish the regular season undefeated? which team has gone 47-1-2 in its last 50 games? a winning percentage of over .95 does not equal parity, no matter what round we go out in
Bitter much? Carolina through the ACC and NCAA tourneys showed a distressing lack of midfield creativity. Coupled with a seeming inability to finish the scoring chances they got, this was a game waiting to happen. Santa Clara must've seen the tape from the Virginia game. I'm sure Carolina will be back next year. The Broncos earned this victory. I wasn't in a position to tell if all the offside calls against Santa Clara were valid or not, but there was a feeling that at some point Kakadelas was going to get through without the flag going up.
490 must represent the degree(temperature) of your disappointment. There were the days when NC slam dunked over everyone on the pitch like in the finals last year. Sure, they went undefeated this year, but were not as dominant as in times past. They had a significant injury, but what team hasn't? I wasn't being literal in my parity statement, but with the development of players nationally, and the infusion of Canadian and international talent being dispersed to other programs, the days of the UCLA, Boston Celtic like dynasties are coming to and end. It was a great run, but it's come to an end and by your response, all too soon. It's the beginning of the end for the TOTAL dominance of the NC soccer program. Notice I said the beginning, not that it is HERE. I'll be the first to apologize, eat crow, or say I'm sorry if the future proves me wrong.