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Aggie At The Ready - Freshman Kelley Monogue Hopes To Have The Solution To Unlock OSU's Defense On Sunday

(21) Texas A&M; vs (8) Oklahoma State – 4:00 PM EST [Last Year: Texas A&M; 1 - 0 Oklahoma State]

It’s not quite do or die for either of these two teams’ title hopes, but with just one match remaining for each after Sunday’s afternoon showdown, it’s not far off. These two sides met in College Station last year in another high pressure tilt which was taken by the home side who clinched the league title on that day in October. This season, OSU comes into College Station looking for a little payback along with keeping their impressive unbeaten record intact. The Cowgirls are sporting a 16-0-1 record but are still struggling to get respect from the computers and are fighting for a potential #1 seed come Selection Monday. That makes this matchup that much more important on multiple fronts. Oklahoma State has rode their tenacious defense, which hasn’t given up multiple goals in a match all season, to great success, but they’ll be tested sternly on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies lead the nation in scoring by a fair margin with sixty-one goals, and despite many of those coming against overmatched opponents, A&M; has still managed to score multiple goals in twelve of their last thirteen matches. Leading the way are the deadly rookie duo of Kelley Monogue, who has more goals (15) than starts (12) in her collegiate career thus far and looks like the program’s next big thing up front, and Annie Kunz, who has eleven goals in her freshman season as well. Though A&M;’s defense took some serious knocks early on, they’ve leveled off as the season’s gone along, and the team’s kept clean sheets in their last three league matches coming into this one. With Texas A&M; off to the SEC, this could be the last league meeting for these team’s, and with bragging rights and so much more on the line, expect another captivating contest from College Station on Sunday afternoon.

(55) Michigan State vs (42) Ohio State – 12:00 PM EST [Last Year: Ohio State 1 - 0 Michigan State]

The at-large bid hopes of one of these teams will likely meet an unglamorous end on Sunday at High Noon in a white knuckle battle of bubble teams who are scrapping to stay alive as the regular season draws to a conclusion. The home side looked like they might be on their way to a big upset and potential resume boosting win against league leaders Penn State on Friday at the half after taking a 1-0 lead but then promptly were well beaten in the second half as they fell, 3-1. With a desperately thin profile, Michigan State are unlikely to get the benefit of the doubt on Selection Monday, meaning they need to start putting together wins now and likely through the Big Ten Tournament. Though Ohio State does have a win over West Virginia in their back pocket, they’ve been in horrendous form for the most part as of late and have now won just two of their last six matches. The slide has the Buckeyes in a tie for sixth in the conference, just one point above Nebraska in eighth, meaning OSU is still not just in danger of missing out on the NCAA Tournament but the Big Ten Tournament as well. With additional wins over Illinois and Wisconsin, the visitors have a bit more wiggle room to work with come Selection Monday, but not enough so that a loss here wouldn’t be damaging to their postseason hopes. One of Sunday’s earliest games is also one of its most important as these two league rivals face off in East Lansing.

(48) Boston University vs (103) Hartford – 1:00 PM EST [Last Year: Hartford 0 - 3 Boston University]

There’s a good chance that at the beginning of the season, Boston University probably thought that Sunday’s match would be little more than a tune up for the pending America East Tournament and that the title would have already been well in hand. Well, it’s not quite worked out that way. Sunday’s opponents, Hartford, opened up the season with a fairly nondescript draw against Old Dominion but then won and kept on winning. Pretty soon, the Hawks had soared to seven straight wins and were still undefeated heading into the league campaign. While Hartford had impressed, it remained to be seen if they could go the distance and be consistent enough to maintain a title challenge. The answer became a little clearer with each successive win until the Hawks had won their first six in the league without conceding a goal. In fact, Hartford’s only conceded four times all season, making them one of the top defensive teams statistically in the nation. Unfortunately for them, one of those goals given up was on Thursday against Albany in a 1-1 draw, meaning the Hawks will have to beat Boston U on Sunday to get their hands on the league title. The Terriers have been their typical brilliant selves in the league, steamrolling their way to seven wins from seven AE games, though the road matches at Maine and New Hampshire, both one goal wins, may have been a little closer than expected. The home side will be eager to test the vaunted Hartford defense with three players who’ve scored at least three goals in league action this year suiting up for them. While Tiya Gallegos leads the team in points in AE play, most eyes figure to be on Jessica Luscinski, the team’s overall leading scorer who impressed so many in non-conference play before missing a few games through injury. These two could meet again in a few weeks in the America East Tournament, but Sunday will be intriguing in its own right with silverware on the line.

(12) Florida State vs (16) Miami (FL) – 1:00 PM EST [Last Year: Miami (FL) 0 - 2 Florida State]

A year that began with national title dreams instead has Florida State fighting for its ACC Tournament life on Sunday afternoon as the Noles host Miami (FL) in an in-state rivalry with much at stake. Shockingly, FSU enters Sunday a point behind Miami (FL) and Virginia Tech for the eighth and final spot in the ACC Tournament, an unthinkable proposition at the beginning of the season. Losses against almost all of the big guns have FSU needing to pick up points to avoid the ignominy of missing out on the conference tournament. Even if that happened though, the Noles would still almost certainly be a part of the NCAA Tournament, such is their lofty RPI, but it probably would still be a bitter pill to swallow. Their opponents don’t figure to be any walkover though. The Hurricanes are riding a new crest of confidence after a pair of wins over Boston College and Maryland not only shot them up the table but also likely sealed a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the side from Coral Gables. First year coach Tom Anagnost will be hoping his Miami side can tighten up in defense though. The Hurricanes haven’t kept a clean sheet since their early September win over Duquesne, having conceded in ten straight matches. Any defensive struggles for the visitors would surely be music to the ears of Florida State, the Noles’ offense having run hot and cold for much of the season and contributing to the team’s erratic form.

(34) Tennessee vs (18) Auburn – 1:00 PM EST [Last Year: Auburn 0 - 1 Tennessee]

Knoxville hosts two teams searching for a winning end to the weekend after going without the three points on Thursday in SEC action. The home side travelled to Tuscaloosa and came home with a 1-0 defeat to Alabama having gone down early to the Crimson Tide and having been unable to score to avoid becoming an upset victim. The loss dropped the Lady Vols to a somewhat unsightly seventh in the league after a tiebreaker with Kentucky, in what has to be a bit of a disappointing placement considering this UT team so thoroughly beat Florida on the opening weekend of the league season. Their opponents also likely saw slim SEC title hopes fade on Thursday as Auburn were held to a draw by fellow title contenders Georgia in a tight one on The Plains. Auburn had a few chances to walk away with all the points but were foiled by some poor finishing and some equally bad luck with the woodwork near the end of regulation. Tennessee will likely be a bit wary with the knowledge that the home side hasn’t won in this fixture since 2008. Of course, they’ll also have to keep the league’s second best offense in check as well with Katy Frierson and Ana Cate as dangerous as ever going forward. The home side will likely lean on Emily Dowd and Caroline Brown for their offense, though the former has cooled down a bit in league play after a torrid start to the 2011 season. Auburn needs a win to keep themselves in the mix for a national seed, while Tennessee would like a victory to haul themselves away from the fringe of the bubble, meaning we could be in line for an entertaining contest in Knoxville on Sunday.

(19) UCF vs (11) Memphis – 1:00 PM EST [Last Year: Memphis 1 - 1 UCF]

There’s been something of a bit of role reversal between these two sides this year heading into this always entertaining conference derby. In recent years past, it’s been the Golden Knights of UCF that’s been the picture of clockwork in the regular season, racking up league wins en route to league titles, while Memphis has suffered through stuttering form only to come good in the postseason in their roles as masters of the Conference USA Tournament. This year though, Memphis has been the picture of consistency for the most part with just one slip all league season (or all season for that matter). UCF on the other hand has been a bit of an adventure in league play, losing their league opener and then drawing three in a stretch of five matches. Floundering in mid-table, Amanda Cromwell’s side just got up to third with a win over UAB on Friday. The inconsistency has allowed Memphis to win the league before this encounter, but there’s still no shortage of fiery energy to be on display in Orlando. UCF will surely be aware that they haven’t beaten their heated rivals since the regular season in 2008 while also being acutely aware of the knowledge that a win here would do wonders for them in the quest for a coveted national seed after the team’s league form has knocked them down in the RPI. Oh, and there’s also the little matter of the “0″ in the loss column by Memphis’ name. Think UCF would love to be the first one to put an L on the Tigers this year? If Memphis is to keep that unbeaten run going, they’ll have to find a way past a defense that’s kept five straight clean sheets. Memphis though has scored at least two goals in six straight matches. Something’s gotta give in the Florida sun on Sunday afternoon.

(28) Virginia Tech vs (4) North Carolina – 1:00 PM EST [Last Year: North Carolina 2 - 1 Virginia Tech]

Virginia Tech probably has fond memories of the 2009 meeting between these two teams when the Hokies pulled off the shocker, beating Carolina, 1-0, in Blacksburg. Of course, that was a banner year for VT, as they also beat Virginia and Wake Forest (twice) to really stamp their place as one of the conference’s rising programs. A few years on and the Hokies are again looking for a big win in their final two matches to end any thoughts of slipping back towards the bubble while also making sure they’re one of the teams headed for the ACC Tournament. Tech had won three in a row against some of the conference’s second tier teams but was then brought back to earth in a painful way by a 4-0 defeat at state rival Virginia on Thursday night. It won’t be any easier against the Tar Heels though. Carolina started out the season with some high scoring matches but have in recent weeks let their defense do the talking having conceded just a single goal in the last six matches. It’s a good thing too, because against some of the ACC’s tougher opponents, the offense has failed to spark at times. That will likely be forgotten with two more wins though which will clinch UNC yet another in a long line of league titles. The Heels were pretty impressive in taking down Boston College on the road on Thursday, but as 2009 showed, Blacksburg’s not an easy place to win for any team.

(1) Duke vs (24) Maryland – 2:00 PM EST [Last Year: Maryland 1 - 1 Duke]

With a provisional #1 ranking in the RPI in tow after Thursday’s win over Wake Forest, Duke will look to continue their march towards a possible ACC title on Sunday against Maryland. In a tantalizing clash of two ACC contenders with some of the top attacking talent in the country in tow, Duke prevailed, though it was disappointing to see the Blue Devils not have to face the challenge of injured forward Katie Stengel. Kelly Cobb did return for Duke though and came off the bench in her return, also ceding the headlines to another of the Blue Devils’ attacking crop, sophomore Laura Weinberg. Weinberg, who has taken a bit of a backseat this year after a strong rookie campaign, roared to life with both of Duke’s goals in the win, showing that this Blue Devil team has a lot of bite to it even when Cobb isn’t scoring. Their last home game of the regular season is against a Maryland side that’s still trying to lock up a spot in the ACC Tournament. The Terps thought themselves contenders for the league coming into ACC play after a strong non-conference campaign but were immediately knocked back down the pecking order after just one win in the team’s first four league games. Maryland seemed to have gotten things back together after a creditable draw against Wake Forest was followed by a 3-0 win at Florida State. But a stunning 2-1 loss at Miami (FL) just a few days later brought all the doubts about this team creeping back to the surface as time begins to run short in the regular season. They can smite all those doubts for good if they can go to Durham on Sunday and make the Blue Devils’ reign atop the unofficial RPI a short one with an upset.

(7) Florida vs (32) LSU – 2:00 PM EST [Last Year: LSU 0 - 2 Florida]

The script said that this should have been for the SEC title. The script said that this should have been LSU’s chance to finally rise to the pinnacle of the conference. The script said that LSU should have been able to keep their strong 2011 home record intact against South Carolina. That script ended up being torn up, along with LSU’s title dreams in all likelihood, by a Gamecocks side that brutalized the Tigers in a hail of set piece goals on Thursday night. LSU’s still technically alive in the SEC title race, but unless the three teams above them all slip up down the stretch, the Tigers will likely be confined to the role of spoiler in the race. The beauty of the schedule though is that the Tigers get a chance to make one of those three slip when they go down to Gainesville on Sunday. The Gators almost never slip at home against league opponents though. How good has Florida been at home in SEC play? Not one current Gator has a home loss to an SEC foe on their CV, the last such defeat having come in 2006. But Florida’s form hasn’t been sparkling in recent matches. The team’s shock defeat at Mississippi State was followed up with another close shave on the road against Arkansas. Florida went down again early and then struggled to break down the home side before Erika Tymrak took the team upon her shoulders once again with a late equalizer before Havana Solaun sent them home with all the points in extra time. Florida will be hoping to avoid such drama here, knowing that another slip would likely be fatal to their title hopes.

(45) Oregon State vs (63) Washington – 3:00 PM EST [Last Year: Washington 0 - 1 Oregon State]

It could well be last stand time for one of last season’s Elite Eight teams as Washington continues to feel the RPI aftershocks of a nightmare two game stretch that saw the Huskies drop a match in Seattle to lowly USC before Friday’s damaging draw against Oregon in Eugene. It could have been worse for the the Huskies who were down 1-0 entering into the dying minutes of the match before sophomore Lindsay Elston popped up to equalize and send the match into extra time. But as is, Washington’s RPI took another hit, and the Huskies are barely staying alive in the bubble race. The Huskies are still at .500 and haven’t beaten an opponent in the uRPI Top 90 all season, meaning they have some serious ground to make up in their final four games, which they might have to sweep to make it back to the NCAA Tournament. Their opponents are only slightly less desperate. Oregon State got themselves the slightest amount of breathing room with a win over Washington State that is unquestionably their biggest victory of the season, undoubtedly one of the reasons the Beavers are in bubble trouble in the first place. The side from Corvallis needs more to secure a NCAA Tournament berth though, and that will likely involve knocking back some Pac-12 bubble rivals including Washington on Sunday. Realistically speaking, the Beavers could do with winning three of their last four, though they’d obviously be sitting pretty if they could get anything out of Stanford’s visit in a week. But all the focus is obviously on the visiting Huskies for Linus Rhode’s team. They know that losing on Sunday after Friday’s big win would put them back at square one again and in more bubble distress.

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