Women's Soccer 2014 NCAA Tournament #2 Florida Region 2nd and 3rd Round Game Breakdowns

Women's Soccer 2014 NCAA Tournament #2 Florida Region 2nd and 3rd Round Game Breakdowns

 

#3 Texas Tech vs. Auburn

Janine Beckie’s first ever hat trick led Texas Tech to an easy 8-0 win over Prairie View A&M in the first round of the tournament. Ashley Casey and Maddy Crabtree added a couple apiece as well. This was already a high scoring team, but now they have a taste for the back of the net and that is bad news for Auburn. The Tigers slipped past Florida Gulf Coast 1-0. Auburn got an early goal from Haley Gerken and held on the rest of the way. Auburn has faced plenty of quality competition in the SEC, but Texas Tech has too much firepower. Auburn keeper Alyse Scott was not tested much against FGCU, but she will be now.

 

#2 Florida vs. California

The 3-0 final score line is a little misleading. Florida was given a very, very tough game by Mercer in the first round on Sunday afternoon. The Bears did not create too many chances to equalize after going down 1-0 in the 19th minute.  But for a large chunk of the game, the Gators could not put away Mercer until Savannah Jordan eventually scored a couple late goals. California hopes that Florida is not playing their best soccer right now and they will use their momentum to attempt to take out the second seeded Florida squad. California has had an up and down season, but they are riding high after a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over San Diego State.

 

In this region, it would be unwise to assume the seeded teams will advance to the third round. Both California and Auburn are battle tested teams that can pull off upsets at this point in the tournament. Florida and Auburn did not play during the regular season this year, so even if both SEC teams advance, it will be the first time they meet in 2014. But the most interesting option in the third round would be a rematch between Texas Tech and California. In Berkeley back on September 12th, the Red Raiders beat Cal 1-0 in an extremely thrilling contest. With about 30 seconds left in the second overtime, Texas Tech’s Janine Beckie headed home the game winner off of a corner. Despite the low score, the game saw 31 total shots. If those two meet again, the Bears will be looking for revenge.

 

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