5 Things You Need To Know For The NCAA Women's Soccer Quarterfinals
— -- The second week of the NCAA soccer tournament offered plenty of surprises, mostly of the unpleasant variety for the nation's premier conference. And yet Thanksgiving arrives with a predictable cast of teams in the quarterfinals, including ample ACC representation.
Second-round upheaval gave way to Sweet 16 settling.
As a result, while Clemson, Florida, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Santa Clara and Virginia Tech exited earlier than seeding suggested they would, all four No. 1 seeds remain, along with a pair of No. 2 seeds, a No. 3 seed and an unseeded team one year removed from the College Cup.
Here's a look at the headlines as the field shrank from 32 teams to the quarterfinal eight.
1. Penn State has never looked better
All four No. 1 seeds were impressive during the second and third rounds (although we're left to surmise as much of Florida State, which is quickly becoming the standard in not streaming its postseason home games). So trying to determine which of those impressive performances was the most impressive isn't a worthwhile exercise. But whether or not its showing was better than that of its peers this season, Penn State was, by at least one measure, the best it has ever been.
The Nittany Lions shut out Boston University 6-0 in the second round and Big Ten rival Ohio State 4-0 in the third round to reach the quarterfinals for a second consecutive season. Add a first-round rout against Albany and they outscored their first three opponents 15-0.
Strictly by goal margin, that is the best performance of any team in this year's tournament, but it's also the best showing of any Penn State team through its first three games. The latter is no small feat for a program that has been to the College Cup on four occasions and played once for the title. The 15 goals match the most Penn State ever scored in its first three games in the tournament, but three consecutive shutouts are a first in 21 NCAA tournament appearances.
Context matters, and Penn State had perhaps the least perilous path of the No. 1 seeds (it did by a significant margin if measured by the RPI of its opponents). But from Megan Schafer up top all the way to keeper Britt Eckerstrom at the back, no team is on more of a roll.
2. But the Nittany Lions can't book that College Cup trip yet
In descending order of difficulty, what remains for the No. 1 seeds this week?
No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 2 West Virginia: For once, the Mountaineers couldn't rely on what has been one of the stingiest defenses in the country in Sunday's Sweet 16 game against Loyola Marymount. No problem. The offense turned 2-2 halftime nervousness into a comfortable 5-2 win. West Virginia has beaten Penn State once this season, albeit in Morgantown, and its 13 goals through the first three rounds are second only to the Nittany Lions. It, too, is rolling. This is the quarterfinal headliner.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 3 Duke: After all the upsets in the second round, the Blue Devils were the only team to win a true road game in the Sweet 16. Then again, eliminating Florida is becoming something of a habit for them. Duplicating that on the other side of the country on short rest is a daunting task. Still, for all its possession, Stanford leaves more goals on the table than in College Cup seasons past. Duke beat North Carolina, lost to Virginia and Notre Dame by 1-0 scores and tied Florida State 0-0 this season. In other words, it's a team that isn't going to panic if this game is close late.
No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 2 Rutgers: Teams that make it this far are used to playing on the front foot. Rutgers can do that, and did so in an emphatic 4-0 win against Connecticut in the Sweet 16. But the first-time quarterfinalist also has roots as a spoiler that defends to the death and wins on the counter. It took Virginia into the second half to break down the Scarlet Knights in the second round a season ago. This is a much better Rutgers team now familiar with Klockner Stadium.
No. 1 Florida State vs. Texas A&M: There is no need for Seminoles coach Mark Krikorian to offer his version of Nick Saban's "tin horn" analogy. Texas A&M is far from a cupcake. But it's also unseeded, and the last unseeded team to reach the College Cup was Connecticut in 2003. A young Aggies team is better than the one that lost 3-1 at Florida State in September, a game it led for 66 minutes, but so is an opponent that started four freshmen of its own that day.
3. Five players who really earned their Thanksgiving meals
Christina Gibbons, Duke: Slowing Savannah Jordan and Florida's offense in a 2-1 win was a collective effort for the Blue Devils, but whether it was staying on Jordan's shoulder on a late run through the box or denying the Gators possession by making runs up the flank, Gibbons played like the All-American she should be when awards are handed out.
Mikaela Harvey, Texas A&M: Whatever else happens this postseason, Texas A&M set itself up to make College Cup runs as long as Harvey is around. And she's only a sophomore. She played all 200 minutes on the weekend as the Aggies beat North Carolina in the second round and outlasted Mississippi in penalty kicks in the third round after her goal tied the game.
Emily Ogle, Penn State: This tournament isn't lacking for midfielders who can control a game without dominating the box score. Like Harvey, Florida State's Isabella Schmid and Stanford's Andi Sullivan, Ogle fits that bill. That doesn't mean the maestro is averse to points, of course. She set up a goal against Ohio State and scored one by tucking a shot into the upper corner.
Brianne Reed, Rutgers: The center back was one of three Rutgers field players to play every minute in the second and third rounds. She scored the insurance goal in a 2-0 win against Hofstra on a set piece, started a sequence that led to the second goal against Connecticut with a flip throw-in and helped keep Huskies star Rachel Hill from igniting any second-half rally.
Michelle Xiao, Stanford: Pick a name from Stanford's starting lineup and it would fit here. Junior Megan Turner was fantastic against Arizona in the Sweet 16. With two goals in that game, Ryan Walker-Hartshorn's contributions are there to see in the box score. But also credit Xiao, who shifted from the forward line to the back line when Stephanie Amack was injured early in the tournament. That group of defenders is as good as any in the tournament, and it's to Xiao's credit that the identity hasn't changed.
4. Another remarkable era ends for North Carolina
A second-round exit on a neutral field against a quality opponent was entirely unsurprising for a North Carolina team that saw its ranks depleted by injuries. Good fortune is a variable that teams can't control, and what happened to the Tar Heels happens to everyone.
Everyone except the Tar Heels.
So no, the 1-0 loss in the second round wasn't surprising. Not after the Tar Heels lost midfield standouts Joanna Boyles and Cameron Castleberry to ACL tears in the week before the game, then lost talented forward Summer Green to the same injury in the first half (those three among five who suffered ACL injuries in a little more than a month). What is staggering, and was too easy to overlook until it suddenly wasn't true anymore, is that it hadn't ever happened.
In 33 previous trips to the NCAA tournament, which is to say every tournament ever played, the Tar Heels always won at least two games.
Like any team, the Tar Heels will look back on this season and find things they could have done better, corrections that could have been made. But they are no more at fault for breaking the streak than are any of the injured players for their ligament tears. The end of this streak was inevitable, not because North Carolina slowed down but because the rest of the country caught up. This just happened to be the group on the field when it ended.
That it lasted as long as it did is one more tribute to a truly remarkable success story.
5. There is more to come from the SEC
It matters in the scheme of things that it was an SEC team that ended North Carolina's streak.
It can be difficult in the moment to differentiate a trend from an anomaly. In the moment, for instance, it was easy to mistake Florida's national championship in 1998 as an indication of a larger trend about SEC soccer. In just the conference's fifth season sponsoring the sport, six of its teams qualified for the NCAA tournament that year.
Florida made it back to the College Cup soon after and remains a factor on the national scene to this day. The rest of the conference struggled to make 1998 anything more than an anomaly. It wasn't until Texas A&M, an import built in the Big 12, reached the College Cup a year ago that the SEC even sent another school that far. No stretch summed up the mediocrity like 2007-12, when its teams combined for 35 NCAA tournament appearances but just five Sweet 16 trips.
Four SEC teams made the Sweet 16 this season, including first-timers Auburn and Mississippi. Four made it a season ago, including first-timer Kentucky. And while Florida's disappointing exit against another ACC team means only Texas A&M remains, it starts to feel like a trend. Root for it or against it, the SEC rarely does things halfway. If it's all-in on soccer, it is here to stay.
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