Women's Soccer 2014 NCAA Tournament #2 Virginia Region 2nd and 3rd Round Game Breakdowns
Virginia was absolutely electric in the first round against High Point, as they scored seven goals in the first half in an 8-0 rout. Midfielder Morgan Brian tied an NCAA single-game tournament record with five assists. Also, sophomore forward Morgan Reuther secured her first career hat trick displaying once again the tremendous depth and quality of the Cavaliers attack.
Rutgers did a nice job slowing down a very good LaSalle side in a 2-0 victory over the Explorers. Forward Amanda DeVolk scored in the third minute and the Scarlet Knights did not look back. They are going to need to have a similar fast start against Virginia to put the pressure on them to have to chase the match in order to have a chance to advance.
#3 Kentucky vs. Arizona State
Kentucky was pushed to the limit by SIU-Edwardsville. The Cougars played the Wildcats to a scoreless draw to force a penalty kick shootout. Kentucky dominated the run of play by outshooting SIUE 31-4 in regulation and the overtime periods. However, in the shootout the Wildcats were on point as they won by a 4-2 margin. The aggressive attacking nature should serve Kentucky in this match with the Sun Devils as they won’t sit back and absorb the Wildcats attacking pressure.
Arizona State won a high scoring affair against in-state rival Northern Arizona 4-2 in the first round to advance to the second round for the first time since 2003. Aly Moon scored twice and the duo of Brianna Gonzalez and Whitney Kanavel scored their first career goals to advance the Sun Devils through to face Kentucky. It was also a school record crowd of 2,067 that was in attendance to give Arizona State that extra home field advantage which is so critical in the NCAA Tournament.
Virginia should have enough offensively to eventually pull away from Rutgers to advance on to the second round. The Scarlet Knights are excellent defensively and I am sure will try to absorb the Cavaliers attack and try and find a way to win a 1-0 type of match. But, that is a very dangerous thing to do while playing at Klockner Stadium. Kentucky and Arizona State should be an up-tempo high scoring match as there is too much offensive quality on both sides for both back lines to completely slow down each other. It would not be a surprise if the Sun Devils pulled the upset to set up a battle with Virginia in the Sweet 16.
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