Women's Soccer 2014 NCAA Tournament #2 Florida / #3 Texas Tech Regional Breakdown
Florida and Texas Tech will certainly be favored to advance out of this group, but there are a few other teams that are capable of making a serious run. Florida Gulf Coast has only failed to win three games all season long and all three were against tournament teams. Auburn has played some tough competition in the SEC and picked up a few nice wins along the way. And then there is California. The Golden Bears went 13-5-2 overall and 5-4-2 in the Pac-12. Cal will give a tough game to every team they run into during the NCAA Tournament.
#3 Texas Tech vs. Prairie View A&M
The Red Raiders have all the weapons they need to make a run at the College Cup. Janine Beckie is a top notch forward (13 goals, 3 assists) and the defense has the talent to stymy any offense in the nation. For now this team will not have to be playing their best soccer when they face SWAC representative Prairie View A&M. The Panthers played well in conference play and did rank first in the SWAC in scoring offense and second in goals-against average. But that will not be enough to get past Texas Tech.
FGCU is a team to watch, but they got a tough draw with Auburn. The Eagles know how to score goals. Tabby Tindell netted 20 on the year and added eight assists. Shannen Wacker is her partner up front and she totaled seven goals and 15 assists. Add in Pauline Speckmaier (8 goals, 5 assists) and FGCU can outscore just about anybody. Auburn has a much more balanced attack and they can strike from anywhere. The Tigers are on a roll too. Heading into the SEC Tournament, Auburn won four games in a row and squeaked into the NCAA Tournament. If this team can keep that momentum going and goalie Alyse Scott keeps playing as well as she has been in the last month, this team can go on the road and beat FGCU.
California vs. San Diego State
On paper, this will be a high scoring affair. California ranked 35th in the nation in scoring offense and San Diego State was just ahead of them at 27th. Cal is a young team in the back and that lack of experience has hurt them. However, they do have talent and after working their way through the Pac-12 slate, inexperience is no longer an excuse. The Aztecs went 9-2-0 in Mountain West play and picked up some quality non-conference wins against teams like NCAA participant Washington and NCAA snubbed Michigan. Seven different San Diego State players have scored at least four goals this season, led by Kelsey Booth and her seven goals and seven assists. With that many potential goal scoring threats, Cal will not have an easy time stopping the Aztecs. But the Golden Bears can outscore San Diego State.
The Gators are a serious contender to reach the College Cup and everybody will hear a lot about sophomore striker Savannah Jordan by the time Florida is done. Jordan netted 15 goals and added six assists during the 2014 campaign. With help from Havana Solaun and Tessa Andujar, this team will have no problem scoring more than enough goals against Mercer. The Bears and Coach Tony Economopoulos have played well in Southern Conference play, but this team has not played anybody near the caliber of Florida. It will be a tough game for Mercer to end their successful 2014 season.
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