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-The End of the Line for Notre Dame

Notre Dame’s doomed season ended on Sunday. It ended not with a bang in a thrilling goalfest where they just came up short. It did not end with a thud where they were completely shown up and played off the park. It just ended. And perhaps that’s fitting for an Irish side that wasn’t abhorrently poor nor desperately unlucky. In the end, this Notre Dame team was just…there, seemingly the epitome of just above average. There were the flashes of brilliance. Much of the game against North Carolina. Almost all of the game against Stanford. The 1-0 win with the season on the line against Marquette in the Big East Tournament. But there was also the unexplainable. How they looked so shockingly bad against Duke. How they kept giving up goal after goal in early matches. How they drew a South Florida team that finished #179 in the final uRPI and a Rutgers side that finished #122. How they fell to Georgetown in a comedy of errors.

Sunday was as nondescript as losses get in the NCAA Tournament and likely would’ve been glossed over by most had it not involved the reigning national champions. There was the early second half goal conceded by the Irish and an unconvincing effort to try and equalize. The Irish failed to put a shot on goal for the entire second half. Some might argue that the windy conditions hampered UND, but Illinois certainly had to play through them as well, with Janet Rayfield’s side eventually finding a way through.

Perhaps most striking of all is the mediocre end of the collegiate careers of Melissa Henderson, Courtney Barg, and Jessica Schuveiller, a most unmediocre trio of players. But Schuveiller was the only of the trio that excelled in 2011. Henderson was excellent at times but also disappeared from sight at others, including this match, where the forward posted zero shots in ninety minutes of action. Barg fought injuries all season. And when Notre Dame needed a lift from the youngsters, it just wasn’t there. These Irish seniors will always be remembered and celebrated for helping deliver another national title to South Bend in 2010. But the program will not look back fondly on the 2011 season.

-How Good Is Illinois?

It’s a shame that a lot of the attention coming from Sunday’s clash between Illinois and Notre Dame will focus on the latter losing and not the former winning. Winning has been something the Illini have been doing a whole lot of lately. This Illinois team has now won eleven of twelve and hasn’t lost since a September 25 defeat to Penn State. The Illini have conceded more than one goal just once in that span and have kept seven clean sheets in those twelve matches. Janet Rayfield’s 3-5-2 formation is one of the more unique systems being deployed in the oftentimes vanilla world of college soccer tactics at the moment, but her Illinois team is certainly no gimmick. They are strong at the back and have one of the most dynamic players in the college game in Vanessa DiBernardo. The Illini face no easy task on Friday against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, but you get the feeling the Big Ten Tournament champions have more than just a puncher’s chance against the Cowgirls.

-The ACC’s Dominance

If any brave soul had doubted the ACC’s superiority heading into this year’s tournament, those misgivings were fully erased by the first week of play. The league had netted an unprecedented nine bids to the Big Dance and had been by all accounts a nightmare of a gauntlet to run through for each of the conference’s clubs. But the pressure forged diamonds, at least in round one, as all nine of the ACC’s teams won their matches and reached the round of thirty-two. While a good many of those wins were squashes against auto bid winners of lesser conferences, there were also some other wins of note. Maryland dispensed with La Salle after a battle in College Park, UNC throttled William & Mary late, and Miami persevered in a come from behind win over Alabama. The biggest win though would be Virginia Tech, the eighth place team in the league, stifling West Virginia, Big East double winners and one of the hottest teams coming into the NCAA Tournament. The ACC Nine are far from done yet either, and every one of the remaining clubs has more than a puncher’s chance of advancing into the Sweet Sixteen. At this point, would anyone be shocked if three ACC teams end up in the College Cup in Kennesaw?

-West Virginia’s Shocking Defeat

Has there been a more stunning opening round defeat that didn’t involve a seeded team in recent times? These two teams seemed to be coming into the NCAA Tournament on different wavelengths as far as form was concerned. The Hokies had been put down easily by Florida State in their final league game and went out tamely against Duke in the ACC Tournament. West Virginia was a wrecking machine after their trademark slow start and had won the double in the Big East. But that counted for nothing here as the Hokies struck early through Kelly Conheeney and proceeded to take it to West Virginia the rest of the night, their combative nature throwing the normally composed Mountaineers off their game. The Hokies didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet with just three shots on goal, but then again, they didn’t have to, playing with the lead most of the game. WVU didn’t flourish on offense, and that was the key, VT limiting them to just three shots on goal. The Hokies kept WVU’s dangerous three forwards mostly silent, including shutting down Big East Rookie of The Year Kate Schwindel.

It’s easily the biggest win of the embryonic reign of Chugger Adair in Blacksburg and a big win period for the Hokies program. It also added to the legend of junior Kelly Conheeney, who has a real chance of going down in program history as the greatest Hokie of them all. As for West Virginia, an upset like this will naturally induce a lot of soul searching. The two pieces of Big East silverware were nice, but a first round exit cannot be befitting of this program given the reputation it’s built for itself over the past few seasons. Thought of as one of the NCAA Tournament’s potential dark horses to get to Kennesaw, Nikki Izzo-Brown’s club instead turned into one of its biggest disappointments.

-Dissecting Bianca Henninger’s College Career

First, let’s get something straight. Bianca Henninger’s the best goalkeeper currently in the college ranks and is probably going to go on to a fantastic professional and USWNT career. But does anyone else feel a bit underwhelmed after looking back at her four years at SCU? While all the personal accolades in the world are impressive, it takes winner’s medals to truly rise into the pantheon of all-time greats. And it’s hard to talk about Henninger’s legacy without mentioning that she exits Santa Clara without a major trophy to her, or her team’s name during her time with the club. The full-time starter for the last three seasons for the Broncos, Henninger’s seen Portland win the WCC title in 2008 and 2009, while the team’s best chance for the league crown ended in a 3-0 nightmare against San Diego. Results in the NCAA Tournament have actually deteriorated over the past three seasons, with the team reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 2009, the second round in 2010, and being eliminated in the first round this season. While it’s certainly disappointing to have to ponder Henninger’s trophyless career at SCU, it’d also be very harsh to lay all of the blame at her feet. Which raises the question…

-Is Santa Clara Just Another Good But Not Great Program Now?

Would we be having this discussion of another program without the trophy cabinet that the Broncos sport? While it’s impossible to not recognize Santa Clara’s contributions to the history of DI soccer, it’s looking increasingly like Jerry Smith’s program is just another face in the crowd. They haven’t netted a major trophy since the 2006 WCC title winning season. That season also marked the beginning of the program’s downward slide in NCAA Tournament competition after the shock defeat to USC in the first round. Since then, it’s been two first round exits, one second round exit, and a Sweet Sixteen exit to go along with missing out entirely in 2008. While running into the Stanford juggernaut for a few of those defeats has been unfortunate, the team has often not played itself into a position to avoid Stanford via claiming a national seed for most of those seasons. To be knocked out in the NCAA Tournament first round by a Cal team they dominated in the regular season has to be especially demoralizing for the Broncos. It’s not like Santa Clara is about to fall off a cliff given some of the talent on the team and some of the incoming recruits over the next few seasons. But it’s also difficult to see this program climbing back to a position amongst the elite given the form of recent seasons.

-So North Carolina’s Not So Dead After All

Cancel the funeral folks, the Tar Heels aren’t going down for the count that easily. North Carolina may have been reeling after three straight losses and a stretch of one win in five to close out the 2011 regular season and ACC Tournament, but Saturday’s dominant win over William & Mary still shows that the powerhouse in Chapel Hill still has real bite. There was probably some consternation after the first half saw the Heels dominate but go into the break level at 1-1 after being pegged back by Diana Weigel at the quarter-hour mark. The Heels would keep applying pressure though until the visitors cracked in the last half-hour. The offense in the second half was as dangerous as its looked in quite a while, and getting goals from four different players has to be a real boost of confidence for a club that’s needed one desperately. While some might dismiss the opposition, the Tribe had a great season and were far from an easy mark for this UNC team. If the Heels can go from strength to strength, the path to Kennesaw is certainly more navigable than some other potential draws.

-What of Chris Petrucelli’s Job Security in Austin?

Though the circumstances may have differed between last season and this, the undeniable fact is that Texas’s NCAA Tournament journey ended at the first hurdle again this season. While UT’s loss to South Carolina shouldn’t be seen as a total embarrassment as last season’s defeat to James Madison was, the end product is still the same. With Petrucelli one of the top paid coaches in the country, the pressure has been on to succeed from day one in Austin, but success approaching the high standards of much of the athletic department at Texas has been fleeting, with the Horns’ form waning in recent seasons.

There will likely be rationalizing from some quarters that UT’s season may have turned out differently had Taylor Knaack not torn her ACL deep into the season and/or Kylie Doniak been fully healthy down the stretch as well. Injuries have been a frequent plague in Austin as of late, but at some point, doesn’t the question have to be why a team with Texas’ resources doesn’t have the depth to cope with such injuries? There’s simply no excuse as to why a program with the potential of Texas, with one of the top goalkeepers in the nation and consistently excellent recruiting classes is having to scrape their way into the tournament. With the Big XII in flux and Texas A&M; leaving for the SEC, there’s room at the top of the conference, but it doesn’t appear Texas is ready to help fill that void at the moment.

-Neil McGuire’s Shootout Decision

Cal coach Neil McGuire’s insertion of redshirt freshman Kathleen Messinger as the Golden Bears’ goalkeeper of choice before the shootout against Santa Clara might go down as this tournament’s gutsiest decision. It’s not like McGuire’s move was unprecedented in the world of college soccer, where liberal substitution rules can often lead to distorted lineups of penalty takers and designated keepers in shootouts. Kelly Dyer did it with no small degree of success for Texas A&M;, while Portland’s Erin Dees did it on Friday against Oregon State to success. But the thing those two keepers had in common was that they, though not starters for their team, had had plenty of experience between the pipes over the course of their careers. Messinger? Not so much. Redshirted as a true freshman through injury, Messinger had totaled a whopping eighty minutes of mop-up duty over the course of 2011. But the unknown commodity, with the season and careers of her seniors on the line, came up huge, and Cal recorded one of their biggest wins (technically a draw) in recent program history. And all because of a coach’s bravery to roll the dice with the most courageous of gambles.

-Officiating In The Maryland/La Salle Match

It wouldn’t be an NCAA Tournament without some controversy involving the men and women in the middle. In the case of this season’s Big Dance, it got started pretty early with the competition’s first match between La Salle and Maryland ensuring the name “Ben Jones” was likely to be a four letter word in Philadelphia after the Explorers’ season ending loss. The designated center official for the contest whistled for a pair of penalty kicks in a twenty-seven minute span that many observers found dubious. Seeing as how the La Salle coaching staff saw a yellow and then red card in the immediate aftermath of the second penalty, it’s safe to say they didn’t quite agree with the decisions either. Unfortunately, the lopsided end result may inhibit most casual observers from giving the vital and perhaps erroneous decisions much mind.

-The Scoreline Was Harsh On La Salle

It’s a little disheartening to see that the last memory of La Salle during this breakout season will be a scoreline that on its face shows a four goal defeat to Maryland. Casual observers shouldn’t be fooled by the one-sided final product though, as the Explorers were within a goal of the ACC side for a solid eighty-four minutes before the Terps took advantage of La Salle’s all-out attack to try and equalize, hammering three past the Explorers in the final six minutes. Most figured the Explorers were a program on the rise, but few really expected Paul Royal’s side to make it to the top of the mountain in the A10 this season. The good news is that the Explorers have enough expected returning talent on offense to warrant them being considered contenders in the league again if they can fill some graduation holes in defense. And with a year of NCAA Tournament experience in their back pocket, who’s to say they might not come back and pull off a shock?

-Texas A&M; Rising

Is anyone else having a hard time remembering when Texas A&M; struggled so mightily to win at the beginning of the season? The Aggies, since coming back to beat North Carolina towards the end of the non-conference season, have bared their teeth often as they’ve torn opposing defenses to shreds. Though A&M; entered this match as clear favorites after their shocking last minute win in the Big XII Tournament final over Oklahoma State, few expected such a decisive outcome against a team that had finished second in the SEC this season. But after Taryne Boudreau’s early effort was saved by Jordan Day in goal, it was time for an all-out assault on the LSU goal. The first goal came in the ninth minute, and the home side would bludgeon the Tigers with three more goals in the final twenty minutes to run out convincing winners. Their youth makes them somewhat unpredictable, but at the same time, it makes these Aggies a very fun team to follow. If things break for them the right way the next two weeks, the youngsters might be the solution that finally breaks down the wall to the College Cup that has teased A&M; throughout their history.

-Kinneman Over Isom for LSU

In one of the oddest decisions of the round and likely the entire NCAA Tournament, LSU coach Brian Lee relegated senior keeper Mo Isom to the bench after she had started the last eighteen matches for the club. While the thought of a possible injury was likely most’s first thought on the keeper switch, Lee’s comments to The Daily Reveille indicate the decision was based on form. It was a jarring decision seeing as how Kinneman herself had started the year as the team’s starting netminder before being benched following a gaffe in the NC State loss. Isom had started the next eighteen matches, with Kinneman only seeing mop-up duty for the Tigers. There were few public hints that the move between the pipes was being made, but the pressure put on the goal by A&M; inevitably made the move inconsequential in terms of the final result. The Tigers were also missing Alex Ramsey through a red card suspension, with star midfielder Allysha Chapman also hampered by a groin injury. Though LSU did not show well in the end, the question as to why they were facing a seeded team in the first place right off the bat also deserves some examination.

-Christabel Oduro’s Record Setting Night

It took an unforgettable performance from Canadian Christabel Oduro to light up an eminently forgettable match against an overmatched UT-Martin team on Saturday. Oduro had already turned heads with a hat trick in the first thirty-four minutes of the match to put the tie well out of reach of the minnows. But the second half would be where the Tigers’ sophomore etched her name into the NCAA Tournament history books, tying the single game goals record with her fourth in the sixty-ninth minute before assisting on Memphis’ seventh of the night three minutes later. The ninth point of the night put Oduro in a class all by herself at the top of the all-time single game points chart in an NCAA Tournament game with nine. Considering some of the glamorous names that have passed through this competition, that’s not a feat to be taken lightly. And neither are these Tigers, who now have home advantage for this weekend’s regional and a red hot striker to help lead the way forward.

-Louisville’s Renaissance

When most examined the bracket as it came out last Monday, many picked out Louisville as a home side primed to be bounced given what looked like a difficult matchup against a Dayton team many felt should have been hosting a first round game. But the Cardinals’ amazing rise from the brink continued as they defied expectations once again in a rollicking 2-0 win over a game Flyers side. Though Dayton’s offense definitely got their licks in with Colleen Williams and Kelsey Smigel each tallying four shots and two shots on goal each, Louisville and keeper Chloe Kiefer would be up to the task, the netminder making six saves. The Cardinals would make their efforts on goal pay, putting two of their six shots on goal in the back of the net. Impressively, Louisville finished with the 2-0 win despite Christine Exeter finishing pointless and playing just under an hour for the Cardinals. The matchup against Memphis should be a fiery affair on Friday, and given the battling spirit the Cardinals have shown since league play has started, you wouldn’t put it past them to potentially pull off an upset.

-Oregon State Can’t Get Over The Hump

I predicted the potential for big things in Corvallis at the beginning of the season? How big? With almost their entire starting lineup from last season’s Pac-10 runner-up squad back, I figured that Oregon State was a serious threat to make it to Kennesaw and the College Cup. Somewhere along the line though, the Beavers never really evolved into the elite team that I expected them to this year. Whether it was the up and down form of their talented striking duo of Chelsea Buckland and Jenna Richardson, the lack of a big statement win all season, or a few unexplainable results (the loss to Utah, the draw with Oregon), OSU never quite gelled into a real contender. It’s hard to argue with a third place finish in such a competitive league, but with home advantage, it has to feel a little unfulfilling to go out at the first hurdle a season after losing in round two to Oklahoma State. The Beavers don’t get off that easy in the attrition department this offseason, losing at least five starters from this talented class. Any core that features talents like Buckland and Richardson (both returning in 2012) is solid, but you get the sense that coach Linus Rhode is still searching for that extra element that will get his side to the next level.

-Portland’s Resilience

Some people were surely holding their nose at the thought of a 9-9-1 team making the Big Dance, but examining Portland’s season as a whole, it’s hard to not admire the resilience off this Pilots squad. Having already lost Kendall Johnson, one of their top players, to injury before the season, Portland would be left to fight more injury issues all season. There was also the little matter of replacing a cadre of all-stars from last year’s powerful team. It’s difficult to count the number of times UP could’ve been considered dead and buried this season. The shocking loss against Seattle. The draw against Washington that sealed a four match winless streak. The stretch of three losses in four that left the team 0-2-0 to begin the league season. The losses to Santa Clara and Pepperdine that perched Portland on the bubble going into Selection Monday. But survive they did, and the Pilots made the most of their second life heading into the postseason, banishing some of their penalty shootout demons after advancing over Oregon State in Corvallis. Portland already beat Florida State once this year. Who’s to say it couldn’t happen again?

-Alyssa Whitehead & The Tournament’s Most Anonymous Great Performance In A Losing Effort

The name Alyssa Whitehead might draw many blank stares from casual observers, but the Samford goalkeeper showed why she’s so highly thought of by so many on Friday night. While nobody could doubt the sheer dominance of the Bulldogs’ opponents, Florida State, it was the brilliance of the towering keeper in the Samford goal that kept the minnows in the match for so long. Whitehead was commanding between the pipes and ended up making ten saves to keep the scoreline respectable. The 6’3″ senior is obviously a huge presence in goal and has a monster leg and has also impressed in W-League action in the summer. WPS clubs (or enterprising European sides) looking for a sleeper with plenty of upside in goal could do a lot worse than keep an eye on the native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

-Should We Be Worried About Marquette’s Struggle to Beat Toledo?

The vast majority of teams facing automatic qualifiers from the smaller conferences were able to mop up and advance with a fair amount of ease, even for the non-seeded teams. One noted exception was Big East side Marquette who perhaps got more than they bargained for from MAC champions Toledo. The Golden Eagles were able to stifle Toledo’s offense for almost the entire match, limiting them to just one shot on goal. It was putting the ball in the back of the net that eluded the home side for so long. While it’s true that Toledo keeper Vicki Traven often stood on her head to keep the score deadlocked, Marquette can’t expect to finish as they did on Saturday if they want to make more progress in this tournament. The defense has the potential to be lights out, but the offense still has to be ruthless in front of goal if the Golden Eagles are to stand a chance of making it to Kennesaw.

-On The Farce of Texas State Not Facing A Seeded Team

For all the kvetching about who did and didn’t make it into this year’s Big Dance, the most galling aspect of the selection committee’s work probably came in the seeding of teams and the matchmaking between seeded and non-seeded teams. While a deep pool of auto bid teams meant that some strong mid-majors were going to be inevitably thrown into the grinder, there were also some baffling decisions, including LSU and William & Mary being tossed to the wolves against seeded teams. The biggest gripe though has to be with Southland Tournament champs Texas State, clearly one of the worst sixteen, if not worst eight, teams in the field managing to avoid a seeded team. There was not an excuse of geography to fall back on either, with a perfect geographical match in seeded side Texas A&M; waiting for them in College Station. An explanation is in order as to why TSU went to Baylor and LSU went to Texas A&M; when the Bobcats and Tigers could’ve easily been switched. Not that we’re going to get one of course.

-No Rematches!

While we’re on the Baylor-Texas State kick, do we really need to see rematches in the first round. OK, Cal’s shootout win over Santa Clara and Portland’s spot kick victory over Portland provided some excitement, with Milwaukee-Illinois State also an intriguing fixture that ended in a lopsided result. But did we really need to see snoozers like Boston U-Harvard, Texas State-Baylor, and Florida-Florida Gulf Coast, where one side had clearly been superior in the regular season? All three of the aforementioned rematches could’ve been avoided as well had the selection committee shuffled the deck geographically. BU could’ve hosted Marist with Boston College hosting Harvard. The Texas State scenario is mentioned above. And Florida could’ve hosted Florida International, with UCF hosting Florida Gulf Coast. Sadly, with geography more of a consideration than ever, we might got more dull local reprisals early on in future seasons as well.

-Wither Sydney?

The 2011 NCAA Tournament doesn’t just represent the last opportunity for UCLA’s Sydney Leroux for winning a coveted national title but also a chance to state her case for being the #1 pick in the 2012 WPS Draft. With Bianca Henninger and Melissa Henderson now both out of the competition, one would think that Leroux has a golden opportunity to boost her draft stock. But Leroux’s attentions have been divided after being called into the USWNT camp for the upcoming Sweden friendly, with the senior not training with UCLA but making it back for the team’s first round matchup with New Mexico. It was hardly a performance to inspire much confidence in the Bruins’ talisman, with Leroux just tabling one off-target shot on the night despite playing the full ninety minutes. In truth, Leroux was overshadowed on the evening by young teammates Ally Courtnall and Sam Mewis. One wonders if Leroux’s attempts at pulling dual duty between UCLA and the USWNT may be splitting the senior’s talents too finely to the disadvantage of both teams.

-Ochs Ochs Ochs!

You’d be hard pressed to find any senior who’s improved their WPS Draft stock as much as San Diego’s Stephanie Ochs over the course of the past month. And this is considering the Toreros’ star hasn’t scored in six straight matches. Instead, Ochs has unselfishly turned into a provider of the highest order. Over the course of the last six matches, Ochs has dished out a mouthwatering nine assists and made her team one of the hottest in the country at the moment. The past two matches have been particularly eye opening, with the senior assisting on all three of USD’s goals in their 3-0 rout of Santa Clara to win a share of the WCC title. Ochs did it again on Friday against UC Irvine with assists on both of her side’s goals before burying the winning spot kick in the shootout for good measure. The hometown heroine is playing as well as anybody in the country right now, and UCLA would do well to do everything in their power to keep the Torero superstar in check on Friday if they want to survive into the Sweet Sixteen.

-Tom Anagnost’s Debut Year In Coral Gables

So, when does a ninth place finish in the league in your first year in charge constitute a smashing debut? When that league happens to be the impossibly hard ACC and when that season results in not only an NCAA Tournament bid but the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in their history. It’s been a trial by fire for first year Miami (FL) coach Tom Anagnost, who has molded his first Hurricanes team into a relentless machine that keeps coming at opponents no matter the score. It’s that fighting spirit that saw them equalize twice against Alabama before netting the winner in extra time. This Miami side isn’t a team laden with stars, with Vikki Alonzo and Kate Howarth really the only names that come close to tilting the semi-stardom meter. But it’s a team that pulls together as a unit and one that will always fight to the very last, meaning there’s the possibility of a little more history in Los Angeles on Friday against Long Beach State.

-The Waves Crash Out

You could almost see it coming from the moment the draw was made on Selection Monday. Pepperdine was almost guaranteed a difficult matchup if the selection committee sent a club from the west coast out to Malibu for geographical simplicity. The Waves were neophytes in this competition, having not qualified for the NCAA Tournament in ages and got a horrendous draw, getting a Long Beach State side who certainly were not one of the worst sixteen teams in the field and would not have been playing a seeded team had geography not come into equation. The 49ers, ironically, suffered much the same fate Pepperdine did this year when a season before they had pushed Santa Clara to the limit before ultimately falling to the Broncos despite outshooting them, 22-5. The Beach would be on the opposite end of the spectrum here, as Pepperdine kept put shots on goal, only to be denied by Kaitlyn Gustaves, who made twelve saves to keep a clean sheet. The early exit shouldn’t take away too much from the Waves’ season though, as winning silverware in a difficult league like the WCC shouldn’t be ignored. With eight starters expected to return next season as well, Pepperdine stands a good chance of not being a one hit wonder either.

-Tennessee Lays An Egg

Tennessee’s loss this weekend was bad. How bad? Consider that a seeded team hadn’t lost in the NCAA Tournament’s first round by three clear goals since 1987, when quite possibly none of the players on either the Lady Vols or their conquerers, Ohio State, were alive. There are matches where scorelines don’t reflect the entire story of a match. A 3-0 of such a nature happened in the ACC earlier this year when Maryland beat Florida State despite being on the back foot for most of the match. This was not such a match. Tennessee was outshot 20-10 and 9-3 in shots on goal on the afternoon. They were behind from the ninth minute on. They let an Ohio State offense that had looked like the walking dead for much of the season instead walk all over them. The Lady Vols offense was an entirely toothless enterprise on the afternoon, looking nothing like the unit that had impressed so much in the regular season. Many felt that Tennessee was undeserving of a national seed when the bracket came out having finished #24 in the unofficial RPI. The Lady Vols did nothing for their cause on Saturday and may perhaps exit the tournament as its biggest disappointment. The long-term ramifications of such a defeat are unpredictable. UT will likely focus on their third place finish in the SEC and a win in the SEC Tournament. But they’d also be wise to take heed of the example of the last seeded team before this season to have lost in the first round, a Colorado Buffaloes program that has never recovered from that defeat.

-Ohio State Still Alive

It takes two to tango though, and Ohio State played their role to the bone on Saturday. With their backs to the wall, they came out swinging and looked like a team that should’ve been nowhere near the bubble come Selection Monday. The offense, horrendously inefficient for much of the season, managed to put three in the back of the net for just the third time in twenty-one matches this season. The defense shut down Tennessee’s vaunted offense completely, limiting UT to just three shots on goal. It’s been an immensely disappointing season for Ohio State to this point by any measure, but a deep run into November would certainly help dull the pain of the team’s regular season failings. It’s not like Tiffany Cameron and Paige Maxwell’s talent just magically vanished in this lost season, and if the pair have regained their confidence in front of goal, the Buckeyes may just surprise yet. Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s a tough draw on Friday, but they aren’t anything OSU cannot handle if the team is playing up to its potential.

-Hagen Keeps Rolling

It’s so unusual to see the towering figure of Milwaukee’s Sarah Hagen kept off the scoresheet for the Panthers, so you figured that when UWM got drawn against Illinois State, one of just two teams to have beaten them this year, the senior would be looking to make a point. Mission accomplished. “Apple” headed home the match winning goal from Keara Thompson’s corner after just three and a half minutes and would then set-up the goal that made the lead safe in the seventy-fourth minute with a shot that forced keeper Aryn Newsom into a save for ISU before Krissy Dorre slammed home. Eight shots, four on goal, and a goal and an assist each was an impressive line for the U.S. U23 star who continues her assault on the NCAA DI Record Book into the second round of the Big Dance for the first time in her career. Hagen hardly could’ve asked for a more inviting opponent on Friday either, having scored in both matches she’s played against Ohio State in her college career thus far.

-The New First Round Format

So what of the much discussed new format for the opening rounds of the tournament? While we probably won’t get the full picture of the switch until this weekend’s matches are completed, you can already see some of the pros and cons after the first round. It was great to see schools like Boston University and UCF be afforded the opportunity to host tournament matches whereas they’d be shut out under the old format in all likelihood. At the same time though, attendance figures for most of the games were woeful, with just nine matches breaking one thousand spectators, two matches breaking fifteen hundred, and just the Texas A&M; match breaching two thousand. While charging for admission at many sites where regular season games are free will inevitably have a dampening effect, the depression of attendance to this effect has to be seen as a great disappointment. With little in the way of poor weather projected for this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see if any of the eight regional sites can draw greater crowds with a higher standard of soccer in the second and third rounds. It’ll also be worth watching Sunday’s matches to see if the quality drops off with the Friday-Sunday quick turnaround.

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