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Hold It High - Florida State Ran The Gauntlet & Lifted The ACC Tournament Title on Sunday

(NCAA Tournament previews will be up all this week leading up to the big kickoff on Friday evening. Stay tuned.)

Wake Forest 1 (Stengel 64′) (1) – (3) 1 (McCarty 85′) Florida State

The cardiac kids of Florida State did it again, equalizing with five minutes left through Tiffany McCarty on one of their two shots on goal in a hundred and ten minutes before triumphing in penalties over Wake Forest thanks to a brilliant performance in the shootout by Kelsey Wys in goal. In a defensive tug-of-war, Wake emerged after a staid first half to take the lead at the sixty-fourth minute through offensive starlet Katie Stengel, who scored her first goal since September 25 to provide the breakthrough. Truthfully, much of the work had been done beforehand after Wys had saved Jackie McSally’s header off of a Rachel Nuzzolese corner kick. Stengel tapped in from short range to give the Demon Deacons the lead. Wake would hold their lead for just over twenty minutes before the Seminoles snatched a dramatic equalizer. Jessica Price slipped a through ball into the path of McCarty who finished 1v1 to send the match into extra time. Each side would have a great chance to win it in the extra sessions, with Nuzzolese firing a rebound of a blocked shot just wide, while Tiana Brockway saw a late effort palmed over by Aubrey Bledose in the Demon Deacons’ goal. The shootout saw the two sides take dramatically different tacts. Florida State sent up one player who had barely played, along with two who hadn’t played at all. Wake Forest sent up the same players who had helped win the shootout last year against Maryland in the ACC Tournament final. Canny viewers weren’t the only ones who realized this as Kelsey Wys, evidently having done her homework, saved WF’s last three penalties, while Bledsoe only was able to stop one. It’s been a dramatic rise for Florida State, who’ve gone from potentially missing the ACC Tournament to lifting the tournament title in the span of a little under a month. With form and confidence, these Noles again look like a team that will be threatening to make it to Kennesaw and perhaps even lift the big prize at the beginning of December.

You wouldn’t doubt Wake Forest being in Kennesaw with a chance of winning it all either. While the Demon Deacons were floundering in form at the end of the regular season, they also seem to have righted the ship through the ACC Tournament. The defense was probably a bit leakier than they would’ve liked through the past three games, keeping no clean sheets, but it’s not like the Demon Deacons will be facing teams of this quality until likely the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight when the bugs will have likely been worked out. Key in this one was getting Katie Stengel back in among the goals. Through injury and poor form from their top forward, Wake has survived and will go on to thrive in November (and maybe beyond) if Stengel is back to her best. And the penalty calamity may have been a hard lesson but also something of a blessing in disguise. Learning you should vary your penalty takers and where they aim probably wasn’t fun on Sunday, but it probably would’ve stung more had they learned that the hard way in the NCAA Tournament.

Florida 2 (King 43′, Graff 54′) – 3 (Frierson 12′, 30′, Cate 64′) Auburn

Auburn senior midfielder Katy Frierson saved one of her best performances for last in the SEC Tournament, scoring twice and inspiring her Tigers to a 3-2 win in a thrilling SEC Tournament final. The SEC Tournament MVP gave her side the early lead within a quarter of an hour after a Heather Havron free kick bobbled around the box, waiting to be struck. Frierson obliged, with a shot that crept past a slow to react Taylor Burke in the Gators goal, Florida going down early once again. The landmark goal that put Frierson on top of the Auburn all-time scoring chart would be followed by another at the half-hour mark. After a long free kick into the area was unsuccessfully overhead kicked by Tatiana Coleman, Frierson pounced and sent a shot that was redirected into the back of the net by a Florida defender. Staring at a potential 2-0 deficit at the break, Florida would give themselves a lifeline a few minutes before the half through Holly King. Jo Dragotta would chip a free kick into the area where King brought the ball down well. With the Auburn defense frozen and King’s marker beaten, the junior coolly finished beyond Amy Howard to send her side into the break down by a single goal. Florida would come storming out of the gate in the second half and got their reward when Jillian Graff was played in by an Annie Speese through ball. The freshman was able to finish off her second goal of the season to bring Florida all the way back. While Florida outshot Auburn 10-3 in the second half, the Tigers would make their only shot on goal of the second half one that will go down in Auburn lore. Frierson flicked a ball forward to Julie King who drove down the near sideline before whipping in a beautiful far post cross. Ana Cate dove onto the ball and finished with aplomb, putting her side up for one final time. Despite desperate efforts to equalize in the final half-hour, Auburn’s defense would hold firm, and the Tigers lifted their first ever SEC Tournament title. Everyone knew this Auburn team had the talent to beat anyone in the nation, especially after beating Duke early in the season. But the consistency of a champion that this team has always lacked crept up on them until this week in Orange Beach. While Frierson will understandably and deservedly grab a lion’s share of the plaudits, you have to tip your hat to Julie King, who’s been a revelation since moving into an attacking role, as well as match-winner Ana Cate and the defense who all performed fabulously in the tournament run. This team can do some damage if they maintain the same level of focus, but they also got one of the harder first round draws amongst seeds, facing a hard-nosed Utah State team that did the double in the WAC this year.

Florida’s penchant for giving up goals early and playing from behind continues to just kill them. They outshot the Tigers by a 2:1 ratio both in total and on-target shots but were playing from behind for all but about twenty minutes, making their task a very difficult one. The maddening part for Florida is that the offense seems to be coping with the loss of attacking talisman McKenzie Barney in decent fashion with plenty of players stepping up, including King and Graff on Sunday. But if the defense continues to leak goals at inopportune times, Florida’s progress through the rest of this month is going to be halted sooner rather than later. They got a nice draw against Florida Gulf Coast, who they trounced earlier before a likely matchup against an inconsistent UCF team. An extended run isn’t out of the question, but honestly, this Florida team has been all over the place for the last month, so deep progress through the bracket looks unlikely.

Oklahoma State 0 – 1 (Majewski 90′) Texas A&M;

Texas A&M;’s last Big XII match will go down as one with one of the most memorable endings in the history of the conference as Megan Majewski scored with just nine seconds left in regulation to lift the Aggies to a twelfth Big XII title. After a cross had been cleared away, the ball fell outside of the box to Kelley Monogue with roughly twenty seconds remaining. The freshman dribbled through three defenders before firing high and hard but also off the bar. The rebound bounced around before Annie Kunz got a foot to it, the deflection bouncing back to Majewski. Wide open, Majewski fired low and hard to the far post, beating a diving Adrianna Franch and sending the partisan Aggie crowd in San Antonio into hysterics. It was a shocking ending to a match that had in large part looked a lot like the first meeting between the two teams with a lot of punishing defense and little in the way of clear cut opportunities. The teams combined for just three shots on goal through the first half, with the closest effort likely coming on an off-target attempt after Bri Young’s bouncing shot went high but off a post to spare OSU’s blushes. Thankfully, the two sides turned it up a little in the second half. Merritt Mathias would go close for the Aggies when she blasted just wide from a few yards inside the area. Oklahoma State had a chance to grab the lead late when A&M; keeper Jordan Day was caught walkabout as she went for a ball but lost out to Elizabeth DeLozier. The OSU attacker tried to center for a teammate to fire into an empty net but would be denied by Rachel Lenz who managed to hoof it away in a mad scramble in the box. A few minutes before Majewski’s winner, Oklahoma State would be incensed by a perceived handball in the area by A&M;, with coach Colin Carmichael being booked in the process for his protests. Anger would turn to disappointment just seconds later for the coach and his team. The Aggies have matured as the season’s gone along into a potent force. The beginning of season struggles seem to have hardened the team into a group capable of overcoming much as can be evidenced in this win and the game against Kansas earlier in the week. A lack of experience at the key positions may ultimately undermine their aspirations for the big prize this season, but there are few teams more exciting to follow at the moment. The way the bracket shakes out creates some difficult matchups but also very exciting ones for neutrals.

There’s no way around calling this a devastating defeat for OSU, but there’s still life in the Cowgirls, with the team having drawn a #2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. If you can put any kind of positive on it, it’s that OSU no longer has to deal with the pressures that go along with sporting a “0″ in the loss column. At the same time though, this match showed OSU’s strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, the Cowgirls were able to mostly stifle an A&M; attack which has run roughshod over most of their opponents this season, it taking a special effort from Monogue and composed finish from Majewski to break through OSU’s defenses. But the bad side of these two matches with A&M; is that the Cowgirls didn’t put up a single goal against by far the toughest opponent they’ve played this season. It remains to be seen if the offense can come through in the biggest matches, though the defense seems to be up to the task. The selection committee did them very few favors after the first round either with Illinois or Notre Dame standing in their path with a potential meeting with Stanford in the Elite Eight as well.

Penn State 1 (Hayes 33′) – 2 (Ewing 6′, DiBernardo 93′) Illinois [aet]

Vanessa DiBernardo’s golden goal early in the first half of extra time gave Illinois their first Big Ten Tournament title since the 2003 season. On a blustery day day in Evanston, it would be the second seeded Illini who took the lead despite battling the oppressive winds in the first half. In the sixth minute, Marissa Mykines dribbled to the endline, leaving a pair of PSU defenders in her wake. Cutting the ball back to the center of the box, Julie Ewing beat her marker to the pass and slid a shot beyond Erin McNulty to the keeper’s left post. Illinois would have a penalty shout denied later in the half when DiBernardo was clattered in the box by Kori Chapic, but the official was unmoved by the Illini midfielder’s protests. Penn State would get the all-important equalizer before the half when a ball over the top was popped up into the path of Maya Hayes by Taylor Schram. Hayes would burst onto the bouncing ball and hit a half-volley to the far post for her DI leading twenty-seventh goal of the season. Despite conceding, Illinois would have the wind to their advantage in the second half but could only put a single shot on goal, though they also kept Penn State from putting any shots on frame. Illinois would grab the winner early in extra time when a string of short passes finished at DiBernardo centrally and just a few yards outside the area. The sophomore lifted a shot to the far post that evaded the despairing dive of McNulty and sent the Illinois players and coaches into hysteria. This was a great win for an Illinois team that had really come into its own by the end of league play and into the Big Ten Tournament. The defense held fast and did a great job of stifling a very potent PSU offense, while DiBernardo, Ewing, and Mykines all showed what they were capable of going the other way. Illinois can’t afford a drop in form though, as they’ve been drawn into a very hard path going forward despite their recent success. Notre Dame knows how to win in the Big Dance and will give Illinois everything they can handle this weekend.

A lot of Sunday’s final came down to the conditions and adapting to them. Illinois dealt with the swirling winds a lot better than their opponents in that respect. They were able to score against PSU when the winds weren’t with them and survived defensively. When they had the wind with them in the second half, Penn State’s offense was all but shut down. Given that weather in some NCAA Tournament matches isn’t going to be pristine, the ability of this team to adapt through the course of a match has to be a major concern against bigger teams. Army shouldn’t be anything PSU can’t handle, but a potential second round match against Marquette looms large.

West Virginia 2 (Miller PK 28′, Silva 50′) – 0 Louisville

West Virginia’s mastery of the Big East was complete on Sunday afternoon as they dispatched fellow conference division winner Louisville to complete a league and tournament double, potentially the team’s last before a move to the Big XII pending mountains of litigation. The match winner would be netted from the penalty spot after Kate Schwindel was upended in the box after a delicious through ball from Bri Rodriguez had set her away. Blake Miller stepped up, and though Chloe Kiefer guessed correctly, the keeper had no chance with the ball kissing the side paneling to give WVU a 1-0 lead. The lead would be secured about five minutes after the intermission when Bry McCarthy went off on a surging run down the far sideline while holding off a defender. A beautiful deep cross came off the Canadian’s foot to be met by Frances Silva’s leaping volley which double WVU’s lead. Louisville’s best chance came from Jennifer Jones, who caught the Mountaineer’s cold at the top of the box where her open shot was plucked out of the air by goalkeeper Sara Keane. West Virginia didn’t have an overwhelming performance, as their three shots on goal can attest to, but they did have an efficient one with their finishing two of those three on-target shots. The defense did a sensational job in keeping Louisville off the board, particularly in their handling of Christine Exeter, who was limited to one off-target shot. Louisville hadn’t been shut out since September 30, so to keep the Cardinals off the board is yet another solid achievement for this Mountaineers team. While WVU doesn’t exactly have a cakewalk through the bracket, they have been playing as well as anyone in the country and make for a trendy sleeper to make it all the way to Kennesaw.

A lack of big match pedigree was always a worry for Louisville coming into this one, and Cardinals boss Karen Ferguson-Dayes even intimated as such in her post-match comments. It’s not as if Louisville was played off the park, but they just couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities they did create. That comes with experience in these types of situations, and you certainly shouldn’t write these Cardinals off just because of this defeat. They certainly aren’t going to be playing many teams like the Mountaineers in the early rounds of the tournament. But Dayton are going to be a big challenge with Colleen Williams in irrepressible form and the Flyers in general on a great run. They’ve got home advantage but will be facing a big test this weekend from a team capable of making a deep run into November themselves.

UC Irvine 0 – 1 (Strozier 13′) Long Beach State

It was a case of different year, same outcome for UC Irvine who fell at the hands of Long Beach State in the Big West Tournament final for the second consecutive season. On a rainy day in Southern California, LBSU would take the lead early on and not look back, stymieing a UC Irvine attack that had put them to the sword so confidently in their regular season meeting and had only been shutout once this year before this match. The Beach would score their match winner at the end of a set piece, Kelsey Wilson’s long free kick being headed around by Alex Balcer and Shawna Gordon before Jazz Strozier hit pay dirt. The 49ers would nearly jump out to a 2-0 lead after the break when a Nadia Link shot forced Jennifer Randazzo to leap and push the ball onto the bar. Irvine perhaps came closest on a set piece of their own when CoCo Goodson unleashed one of her patented powerful driven free kicks that forced a save from Kaitlyn Gustaves. Gustaves made four saves on the day, all of them in the second half to keep the clean sheet. Despite not creating a great many chances, Long Beach did what the great teams do when the offense isn’t necessarily prolific, scoring off of set pieces. This is a 49ers team that isn’t going to be awed by anybody, having faced the likes of Milwaukee, Marquette, and San Diego on the road already. Pepperdine’s certainly not going to be an easy task in the first round, but if LBSU can meet that challenge, the potential is there for a very long run through the tournament. Don’t be surprised if this Long Beach team wins multiple games in the Big Dance this year.

Irvine started slowly and ultimately couldn’t find an equalizer after conceding in the first half. Though shots were 2-2 in the opening period, Irvine eventually got a foothold on the game in the second forty-five minutes. But the usually potent Anteater attack found no way through the Long Beach defense despite the UCI defense clamping down on LBSU in the second half. Despite a second year of Big West Tournament disappointment, Irvine again has the chance to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. It’s not going to be a walk in the park though, as the Anteaters’ path towards Kennesaw is littered with land mines right from the start, with a red hot San Diego team coming for the first round. If UCI survives that, then a likely trip to Westwood beckons. The good news is that Irvine shouldn’t be fazed by any of this, having played a brutal non-conference schedule in which they acquitted themselves quite well. These Anteaters will be able to take it to just about anyone and may yet cause a shock or two this month.

Dayton 5 (Williams 1′, 10′, 71′, Emery 30′, Kenyon PK 68′) – 1 (D’Arcy 90′) UMass

Dayton delivered a brutal beating to UMass in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final to lift yet another piece of A10 silverware as they locked up the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tournament MOP Colleen Williams again showed why she’s one of the top forwards in the country with a hat trick to make her the only player with fifteen goals and fifteen assists so far this year. The opener would come less than a minute in when Williams posted up a defender, turned and released a hard shot, high into the goal. Williams would tally the winner less than ten minutes later with another high shot from distance that goalkeeper Emily Cota could do little with. Stephanie Emery made it three at the half-hour mark after Josie Grant’s beautiful cutting pass let Emery cut back and away from two defenders before her shot kissed the post on its way across the line. Emily Kenyon added a fourth from the penalty spot before Williams added a sensational fifth with a swerving half-volley into the roof of the goal. UMass got a late consolation, but their goal was of little consolation on the day as they were well beaten. This was a demolition job, pure and simple, with Dayton outshooting UMass, 24-6 and 11-2 in shots on goal. This Dayton team’s been an absolute wrecking ball since their last loss to Richmond. The Flyers have three players with at least ten goals and two in Williams and Juliana Libertin with at least ten assists. The defense has also given up just eighteen goals, meaning Dayton is well equipped to dominate a game at either end. The Flyers certainly got a doable draw in the Big Dance as well, though on the road against Louisville isn’t a gimme by any means. But if this Flyers team performs up to expectations, they could easily find themselves in the Sweet Sixteen…or perhaps beyond.

UMass’ season ended with a rather unceremonious thud in this one after they were not selected as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament. But that still shouldn’t take away from the job that Ed Matz has done so far with the Minutewomen. This team has made enormous strides that could be seen in their late season run to this final. Matz had similar success at Northeastern in his time there, and odds are this won’t be the last time Dayton and UMass cross swords with silverware on the line, with Matz’s team a part of a rising new wave of A10 contenders that includes Richmond and La Salle as well.

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