The UAA is a great Division III conference, and always interesting. The conference webpage has a season preview. Be aware: it's a pdf file. (I hate it when somebody links to a pdf file without warning) If you're at all interested in any of the UAA teams, I recommend downloading it. It's everything you ever wanted to know about UAA soccer, but were afraid to ask. http://uaa.rochester.edu/Soccer/02_UAA_Soccer_Preview.pdf A few excerpts are below: Code: [font=courier]UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 2002 WOMEN’S SOCCER COACHES POLL RESULTS TEAM RANKINGS PTS. 1. Rochester 1-1-1-1-1-2-2 47 2. NYU 1-1-2-2-2-3-3 42 3. Emory 1-2-2-2-3-3-4 39 4. Washington 3-3-4-4-4-4-5 29 5. Carnegie Mellon 3-3-4-4-5-5-6 26 6. Chicago 4-5-5-5-5-5-6 21 7. CWRU 6-6-6-6-7-7-7 11 8. Brandeis 6-6-7-7-7-7-7 9[/font] Rochester: The Yellowjackets rebounded from a 0-2 start to win 10 straight and 13 of 15 en route to a perfect 7-0-0 record in UAA play. Rochester swept the major UAA awards in 2001 (Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coaching Staff of the Year). Head coach Terry Gurnett, who leads all Division III women’s soccer coaches in victories, enters his 26 th season on the sidelines. He returns eight starters. Gurnett’s biggest challenge will be to replace Jen Seferiadis, the 2001 UAA Player of the Year, in the back... Emory: By many standards the Emory University women's soccer team's 2001 season was the most successful in school history. The Eagles won a school-record 17 games with one loss and one tie. However, despite being the No. 6 ranked team nationally in the last regular season poll, the Eagles were not selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Division III national tournament... The Eagles graduate six seniors, who tallied a four-year record of 57-6-15. The seniors made two NCAA tournament appearances, including the first tournament win in the program's history, reaching the regional finals both years. New York University: The Violets look to build from an impressive 2001 season, in which they captured their first-ever ECAC Metro Championship Tournament title, posted a second-place UAA finish for the second consecutive year, and tied the school record for wins in a season (11)... Washington University: A new day is dawning for the Washington University women's soccer team as Wendy Dillinger takes over the head coaching reigns for the Bears. Just the second head coach in the team's 13-year history, Dillinger is looking to jump start a club that finished 7-7-3 last year, the first time in seven seasons the Red and Green failed to finish above .500. She has plenty to work with, though, as seven starters return to a club with just one senior... Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon posted one of its best seasons in school history in 2001, posting a school-record 13-5-1 mark and advancing to post-season play with a runner-up finish in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Tournament. With many excellent players returning and an incoming class of outstanding potential, head coach Heather Kendra is hoping to continue the Tartans’ success... University of Chicago: Chicago enters the 2002 campaign looking to rebound from a 6-11 finish a year ago, a record that ended the Maroons’ string of nine straight 10-victory seasons... Case Western Reserve: Since posting their first winning record in 1997, the Case Western Reserve women found out once again how tough the University Athletic Association really is. Last season CWRU finished 0-6-1 in the Association and 7-10-1 overall... Brandeis: Coach Denise Dallamora returns eight starters from last season's team...Senior captains Sarah Davis, Lindsay Lazarski and Stephanie Pretti head up the returnees... Junior forward Melissa Delowe is the top returning scorer with six goals and 14 points. {begin rant} Emory not being selected for the national tournament last year was a travesty! One of the top ten teams in the country left out? Ridiculous. I'm all for the auto-bids, but that was absurd!{/end rant} Go Bears!! (for those who don't know, the Bears are Washington U.)
Another cool thing about this league is how many of the schools have exceedingly high academic reputations. They're not just jock schools. At least that's true of Carnegie Mellon, U of C, Brandeis, and NYU. I don't know anything about the others.
Update on the Washington U. Bears: Saturday, at Francis Field in the Gateway City, the Bears dismantled the Carleton College (Minnesota) Knights, with only a little help from the Knights. Final score: 6-0 In previous games the Bears have beaten Maryville 3-1, lost a close one to William Woods 0-1, and battled Illinois Wesleyan to a nil-nil draw. So the Bears are now 2-1-1. I saw only the games against William Woods and Carleton. I'm liking the look of the 'new look' Bears under their new head coach, Wendy Dillinger. They have so many new players I hardly recognize half of them, but the Bears proved on Saturday that they do have some firepower. Hope springs eternal.
Case Western Reserve also has an excellent womens basketball program...they went pretty far in the NCAA tourney last season.
Washington U. has an excellent women's b-ball program, too. The Bears won the national title in women's basketball four years in a row -1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. The string was broken last year when they lost in the second round to the eventual champion, Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Washington has also won seven national titles in volleyball, most recently in 1996. The best Washington has done in women's soccer is making it to the final four. BTW, I just noticed that volleyball, with a record of 12-0, is currently ranked #1 in the country.
Conerence play has begun with three games yesterday and one today. Rochester suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the NYU Violets. Two of the three games yesterday went to overtime. It looks like it will be another typical UAA season. Saturday, Sept. 28 * Emory Eagles 3 at Brandeis Judges 2 (overtime) * Case Western Spartans 1 at Chicago Maroons 3 * NYU Violets 1 at Rochester Yellowjackets 0 (overtime) Sunday, Sept. 29 * Carnegie Mellon Tartans at Washington U. Bears (Sept. 28) Annie Schenck scored in the second overtime period to help Emory University to a 3-2 win at Brandeis (Mass.). The U. of Chicago's only loss this season came at the hands of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, currently ranked #3 in the nation. In last week's NSCAA national poll, Chicago was unranked. Rochester was ranked #15, but they will drop after the loss to NYU, which was unranked. Emory was 'recieving votes' last week. I should be able to see most of the Carnegie Mellon game today, but I'm planning to leave early to go to the St. Louis U. game (why do they have to schedule these games so close together? ) BTW, I saw Washington U. hand 'the school across the street', Fontbonne, a 6-0 pasting on Thursday, in a game which wasn't as lopsided as the score would indicate. Fontbonne played better than I expected. In fact, both teams looked pretty good - a well-played game, despite the score. On Wednesday, NYU battled to a 3-3 tie against #2 in the nation, the dreaded TCNJ Lions. (for those that don't know, TCNJ is the College of New Jersey, always a force in DIII women's soccer.) Violets And Lions Play To Tie September 25, 2002 NYU's record is now 4-3-2 which doesn't seem too good, but all of the losses have been by just one goal, and two of them went to overtime. Interesting, especially considering the tie against TCNJ and now a victory over Rochester.
Carnegie Mellon at Washington U. turned out to be a great game! I did see most, but not all, of it. I stayed through the first overtime period, even though it made me late for the St. Louis U game. It was the first conference game for both teams. Carnegie Mellon came in to the game unbeaten and untied, with a record of 8-0-0, while the Bears had a record of 5-1-1. Neither team dominated the first half in terms of possession or territory, but Carnegie Mellon had all the good scoring chances. In the second half, the game evolved into a great end-to-end battle, with both teams getting good scoring chances. In the 74th minute (I think), Wash. U. goalkeeper Charlotte Ferber came up huge with to great saves in a row. Moments later Wash. U. blasted a shot off the bottom of the crossbar, but it didn't go in. There was more of the same in the first overtime period (which I saw) - I didn't see the second overtime period. FINAL: Washington U. Bears 0 Carnegie Mellon Tartans 0 The dreaded nil-nil draw, but a great game. On the first weekend of UAA play, 3 out of 4 of the games went to overtime. It seems to always be the same in the UAA - anybody can beat anybody. What a great conference. The UAA conference schedule continues next weekend with 4 more games. Wash. U. travels to Cleveland to play Case Western.
From the UAA website That was a great game. One of the best game I've seen this season, and I've seen quite a few. You've got to love Division III. Meanwhile, we have an upset - Chicago over Wheaton, ranked #9 in the country. Scores: Wednesday, Oct. 2 NYU 5, Manhattanville 0 Chicago 1, Wheaton (IL) 0 And there's a full slate of conference games on Saturday. Saturday, Oct. 5 __ Brandeis at NYU __ Chicago at Carnegie Mellon __ Washington at Case Western __ Rochester at Emory
This is one tough conference!! And evenly matched. Notice the 1-1 tie between Chicago and Carnegie Mellon, and Washington U.'s nil-nil draw with NYU. Tell me this isn't just about the toughest conference in the country. UAA Standings Code: [font=courier] W L T Pts. NYU 3 0 1 10 Emory 3 1 0 9 Chicago 2 1 1 7 Rochester 2 2 0 6 Washington 1 1 2 5 CWRU 1 3 0 3 Brandeis 1 3 0 3 Carnegie Mellon 0 2 2 2[/font] Four of the UAA's 8 teams are nationally ranked this week. NSCAA/adidas rankings - October 14 Division III women: Code: [font=courier]#12 University of Chicago 8-2-1 #17 New York University 7-3-3 #18 Emory (Ga.) 10-2-0 #25 Rochester (N.Y.) 10-2-0[/font] Recent scores: Sunday, Oct. 6 * Chicago 1, Carnegie Mellon 1 (2 OT) Tuesday, Oct. 8 Tufts 1, Brandeis 0 Rochester 1, Union (NY) 0 (OT) So. Illinois-Edwardsville 2, Washington 0 Friday, Oct. 11 * Brandeis 2, Carnegie Mellon 1 (OT) * Chicago 2, Emory 0 * Rochester 3, CWRU 1 * Washington 0, NYU 0 (2 OT) Sunday, Oct. 13 * CWRU 2, Brandeis 1 * Rochester 1, Carnegie Mellon 0 * Emory 2, Washington 1 * NYU 1, Chicago 0 Tuesday, Oct. 15 Chicago 2, Illinois Wesleyan 1 (2 OT) Wednesday, Oct. 16 Rochester 2, Ithaca *-UAA Game
Great game last night The UAA is one great conference - it's always strong from top to bottom, and anybody can beat anybody. 3 UAA teams were ranked in last weeks NSCAA poll. But were they the right teams? Code: [font=courier]15 Emory (Ga.) 11-2-1 18 16 NYU 8-3-3 17 24 Rochester (N.Y.) 11-3-0 25[/font] The Jones ratings are interesting: Code: [font=courier]22 Rochester 1196 23 Chicago 1196 27 Emory 1180 29 NYU 1166[/font] Rochester and Chicago have identical ratings and Emory and NYU are very close (within 30 ratings points which, with SEs on the order of 75, isn't even statistically significant) Look at the conference standings after yesterday's games: UAA Standings games through Oct. 25 Code: [font=courier] UAA PTS Overall NYU 4-0-1 13 9-3-3 Chicago 3-1-1 10 11-3-1 Emory 3-2-0 9 10-3-1 Washington 2-1-2 8 7-4-3 Rochester 2-3-0 6 11-4-0 CWRU 1-4-0 3 11-4-1 Brandeis 1-4-0 3 7-6-1 Carnegie Mellon 1-2-2 5 9-3-2[/font] Carnegie Mellon, the bottom of the UAA table beat Emory, the team ranked highest by the NSCAA. You've got to love it. Washington U. hosted Rochester last night at Francis Field. What a great rivalry that is! One of the most memorable games I ever saw was a women's game against Rochester several years back, but that is another story. Rochester dominated the first half of last night's game, and had a lot of scoring chances. The game could have been 2 or 3 to nothing at the half in favor of Rochester. But it wasn't!! And the reason it wasn't was Washington goalkeeper Charlotte Felber. Good googily moogily! She was taking care of business between the pipes, and the game was 0-0 at the half. Early in the second half Rochester finally managed to get the ball past Felber, and went up 1-0. Washington battled back and managed to get a goal of their own but Rochester still seemed to be dominating. That is until Washington got a free kick from about 35 yards out. Kim Raess took the kick, and proceeded to hit a beautifully placed rocket to the far post just under the crossbar. After that the complexion of the game totally changed, and Washington won it 2-1. Raess' free kick was great but it wouldn't have mattered if Felber hadn't kept the Bears in the game with some fantastic goalkeeping. It was another great game. I'm rarely dissapointed with the UAA games at Washington U. Yesterday's results Friday, Oct. 25 * Carnegie Mellon 1, Emory 0 * Washington 2, Rochester 1 * Chicago 3, Brandeis 0 * NYU 2, CWRU 0 Tomorrow's schedule Sunday, Oct. 27 * Emory at CWRU * NYU at Carnegie Mellon * Brandeis at Washington * Rochester at Chicago Washington won't win the conference, and probably won't make the national tournament, but they've played some good games, and that was a great game last night. Washington has a good team and is obviously well coached.
Re: Great game last night Yea. And notice that all of the UAA teams have winning records. And, last year this conference had only one team in the national torunament. Emory one of the 10 best teams in the country was left out. I'm all for the automatic bids for conference champions, but if there's not room in the national tournament for a top ten team, and a team with a realistic chance of winning the whole thing, then something is seriously wrong.
With one game remaing for each team, NYU has clinched a tie for the UAA title and has secured the UAA's automatic berth in the national tournament. Current Standings Code: [font=courier] UAA PTS overall NYU 5-0-1 16 10-4-5 Chicago 4-1-1 13 12-3-1 Emory 4-2-0 12 12-3-1 Washington 3-1-2 11 9-4-3 Rochester 2-4-0 6 12-5-0 Carnegie Mellon 1-3-2 5 9-4-2 CWRU 1-5-0 3 11-5-2 Brandeis 1-5-0 3 8-7-1[/font]
I know I'm a bit late replying to this all..........but Case Western ain't nothing compared to the Lady Bears (I have many Wash U friends and go to most of the home games). And worry not all hoops junkies (along with baseball and soccer my top 3 sports), the Lady Bears will be back this year to reclaim their crown. Watch for the name (if you really really really follow d3 womens hoops LOL) of Hallie Hutchens, the gal was awesome last year as a freshman.