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-Revenge in Denver was served with a side of hail and snow, as the Pioneers avenged a season opening defeat to Colorado College with a resounding 3-1 victory over the Tigers in frightful conditions. It’s safe to say that both programs had grown by leaps and bounds since that Colorado Cup meeting. Denver had blossomed into a side with an explosive offense that could also get it done with defense, while the visiting Tigers had finally cashed in on their potential to win a league title. But whereas Denver’s offense had few answers for a stern CC defense in the regular season, they put their rivals to the sword in convincing fashion on Saturday. While Kristen Hamilton tends to get most of the headlines for Denver, it was Kaitlin Bast who put in a woman of the match performance with the assist on Hamilton’s opener and the second and third goals for the Pioneers. The partnership of Hamilton and Bast in attack is a brilliant one and will surely put the Maryland defense to the test on Friday. While the battle hardened Terps will open up as favorites, Denver is more than capable of springing an upset if their offense continues to hum as it did on Saturday.

-Speaking of the Terps, they left it awfully late against Stony Brook in the first round. While there’s no question that Maryland were deserved winners, they also were less than six minutes away from heading into extra time against the America East side. Credit deserves to be given to the Seawolves, and especially goalkeeper Ashley Castanio for keeping her side on level pegging for as long as she did. But Maryland shouldn’t have needed a goal in the eighty-fifth minute to pull ahead against such a modest side. The volume of chances they’re going to get in future rounds is going to dip, perhaps significantly, and if Maryland can’t take advantage with more frequency, they won’t be long for the tournament. One thing that wasn’t really tested was the Terp defense, which was victimized so thoroughly by Virginia in the ACC Tournament. SBU just didn’t have the weapons to match up, but it’s safe to say Denver’s diverse attack will pose more of a threat. How Maryland deals with the Pioneers’ stars on offense could tell us much about their odds of breaking through to San Diego.

-Rematches due to geographical concerns are an inevitability in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, but rematches which have nothing to do with geography? Meh. Especially ones of games that were pretty dull the first go round. There probably weren’t too many clamoring for a redux of UCLA’s regular season match with the Badgers of Wisconsin, even if the Bruins had needed two goals in the final quarter of an hour to polish UW off. Despite leaving it late, there was a certain inevitability about it given how languid the Wisconsin offense had looked. It was much of the same on Saturday, though UCLA spared everyone the suspense, with Taylor Smith heading home in the fifteenth minute. The Bruins sprayed most of their shots high and wide on the day, but Wisconsin’s offense was largely AWOL for the evening, not managing a single shot on goal. Down by a goal, working with a very short bench, and needing to press a superior team technically into mistakes, Wisconsin scarcely stood a chance. It was largely a snoozer that should have some wondering if the Selection Committee couldn’t have engaged in a little more creativity to mix the matchups up a little and given UCLA a new opponent in the early round.

-Kentucky looked near locks to pick up their first ever win in the NCAA Tournament when the draw was announced last week, but they perhaps got more than they bargained for in their first round matchup with Tennessee-Martin. The OVC champion Skyhawks had made their maiden voyage into this tournament last season and had been taught some harsh lessons as they were stuffed by Memphis. They had clearly learned from the experience though and made life difficult on their much more heralded opposition. The Wildcats gradually gained a strong foothold on the match in the second half but displayed a lack of cutting edge that kept the visitors alive heading into extra time. It wouldn’t take long to settle matters in the extra frame, with Kelli Hubly delivering one of the biggest goals in recent memory for UK. While you can probably try and deconstruct the performance, inevitably, the result will probably be all that matters for the Wildcat program, who finally ended their long wait for an NCAA Tournament win. Needless to say though, they’ll have to do a much better job with their chances against UCLA if they want to pull off an upset in round two.

-Pepperdine’s got to be thinking someone on the Selection Committee doesn’t like them at this point. For the second straight year, the Waves were rewarded for a fine season with a murderous first round draw in the Big Dance. Last year, it was Long Beach State, this year it was a Cal side that came into the NCAA Tournament grossly underrated and at least worthy of hosting a home game themselves. Not helping matters for the Waves was the absence of Michelle Pao and Amanda LeCave through injury. Against a team as deep and talented as Cal, you got the feeling that the longer the game stayed deadlocked, the more the odds favored the visitors. And so it was, with the Golden Bears scrapping for a deserved winner late, after tipping the balance of offense their way in the second half. Tim Ward’s side still has a talented core of returning players next season to work with, but for now, it may be case of what could have been had he had his full compliment of stars to work with in this one.

-Those looking for a longshot upset of a high national seed probably cast an eye towards Southern California and San Diego State’s matchup with Big West Tournament winners Cal State Northridge. The Matadors had, after all, drawn with Tennessee and Portland and beaten Michigan earlier in the season. Instead, San Diego State put up a lopsided result against CSUN, toppling their state rivals by a 3-0 margin. While a simple look at the stat sheet shows that the Matadors doubled up SDSU in the shot count, they only managed to put two on frame, while the Aztecs were clinical, putting three of their four shots in the back of the net. The visitors were always going to struggle coming from behind given their somewhat underpowered offense, so when Hannah Keane scored in the tenth minute, problems were afoot, and when Megan Jurado added her fifteenth of the season before the half-hour mark, it was all but game over. The Aztecs certainly passed their first NCAA Tournament test this season with flying colors, but the assignments certainly aren’t going to get any easier this weekend, with Cal awaiting them in the round of thirty-two.

-Missouri, down a head coach due to a touchline ban from the SEC Tournament semi-final, in the end wasn’t outthought or outfought, but the Tigers learned the hard lesson that Ohio State last year and Minnesota earlier this year did: Going to penalties against Illinois and goalkeeper Steph Panozzo is hazardous to your postseason health. Illinois won their third shootout in as many attempts in the last two years with the Canadian in between the sticks, and in this case, it really wasn’t even close, as Illinois made all three of their attempts, with Missouri coming up empty on all three of theirs. Janet Rayfield’s side would ride their luck and some generous bounces from the woodwork at times, but they likely knew they’d have a big advantage in the shootout with the tested Panozzo, who had a fine game even before spot kicks, guarding the goal. The Illini will try to spring an upset against Rayfield’s alma mater, North Carolina, in the second round, while Missouri will be stuck rueing a disappointing final month of the season that had started out in such imperious form.

-Alan Hansen’s infamous old adage “you can’t win anything with kids” may still hold true in most circumstances at this level, but a youthful Georgetown team is doing their damnedest to prove themselves as an exception. Most had written the Hoyas off as serious contenders for an NCAA Tournament bid before the season given the overall youth of the squad and how much had been lost over the offseason, but Dave Nolan’s side had thrived with the pressure off, winning their division of the Big East and coming one game away from winning the Big East Tournament. In tough in the NCAA Tournament with a draw that placed them away from home and against a battle tested Virginia Tech squad, Georgetown looked to be in more trouble at the halftime whistle. They had taken a lead early in the half but had conceded a pair of goals right before the break, an occurrence that could have broken some young teams. The Hoyas would battle back in fine fashion though, equalizing in the final quarter of an hour before winning it early in extra time. It’s been a season of growth for the D.C. club so far, and nowhere was that growth more evident than in Sunday’s fightback. With a winnable game against Baylor coming up on Friday, there’s no guarantee that these Hoyas aren’t going to keep growing. And winning.

-It’s been a while since the Ivy League has had anything to crow about in the NCAA Tournament, but it’s safe to say Saturday was a bright spot for the Ancient Eight. The league had come into the competition smarting a bit after having seen Dartmouth get snubbed despite a solid RPI, but the Tigers won back a lot of respect with their defeat of West Virginia. Princeton had already shown they were a potentially sleeper after going 7-0-0 in the Ivy League during the season, having advanced to the College Cup the last time they had run the table in the league. Most didn’t have this one down as a likely upset though, as West Virginia had won the Big XII with fair ease and was likely to have renewed focus after their shock Big XII Tournament exit. The focus clearly wasn’t there at the beginning of each half though, and Princeton pounced with goals shortly after the start of each period. The Tigers would survive some serious pressure throughout, a bit of a worry given some of the club’s defensive struggles at times, but survive they did to record a famous victory. Marquette is a club likely on level pegging with West Virginia’s ability, so there’s really no reason to expect Princeton doesn’t have a great shot at another upset on Thursday. One worry though was the injury suffered by starting attacker Lynessa McGee that knocked her out in the second half of the match. Princeton worked with a short bench to begin with, and shortening that bench by another player could work against them in a situation with potentially two games in three days.

-For all of the good they did in winning the Big XII at the first attempt, West Virginia’s season may ultimately be remembered for its shocking final two games, in which the club were beaten twice at the first hurdle in each postseason tournament. Stretching back to last season, WVU has now lost three straight postseason games, a baffling downturn for a program that has fared so well in the regular season in recent seasons. That regular season success makes evaluation of this West Virginia program so difficult. It’s not like the Mountaineers have been a total disaster the past few seasons. Far from it, as their growing trophy case can attest to. But for a club that made the Elite Eight a half-decade ago, the continued meltdowns in the postseason have to be maddening. It’s not just the defeats, but the fact that WVU has been the favorite in all three of those losses over the past two seasons and heavy favorites in this season’s failures. While West Virginia certainly had some bad luck with the woodwork in this one, there was nothing unlucky about conceding so early in each half. As their league title shows, there’s plenty of talent on this West Virginia side. Too much talent to be having such problems in the postseason, leaving Nikki Izzo-Brown and co. with some hard questions and soul searching in the offseason.

-It probably won’t be glossed on as much as some of the weekend’s other fixtures, but Auburn’s win over Washington in the opening round was quietly one of the round’s most impressive triumphs. The Tigers were coming off three games in five days and were surprisingly without offensive talisman Tatiana Coleman, the club’s biggest scoring threat by about a mile. Add in a trip cross-country to Seattle, and all the signs were there for a letdown. Except Auburn wasn’t the team that had the letdown, as the Tigers jumped all over a flat Washington side in the opening quarter of an hour, making the most of their chances to claim an early 2-0 lead. The Huskies would push doggedly after that but couldn’t come all the way back as Auburn dug in its heels and held out for a 2-1 win. All things considered, it was probably the SEC side’s biggest NCAA Tournament win in quite some time, and will certainly be a big boost to confidence going into the regional in Provo. The Tigers will obviously be crossing their fingers on the return of the pivotal Coleman to the lineup, but regardless of whether she’s in the lineup on Thursday, if Auburn comes out with the focus and drive they had against UW, they might just have a chance at a second round shock.

-The scenery ended up being more spectacular than the manner of BYU’s victory on Saturday in a delayed contest, but the Cougars still managed to advance despite being given the trickiest draw by far of any of the #1 seeds in the tournament. Never mind the fact that Utah State was a team already familiar with the Cougars, having already played them, closely at that. The Aggies were a creditable club in their own right with NCAA Tournament experience from last season, which served them well in this one. The home side’s first goal was beautifully taken by Jessica Ringwood, who has emerged wonderfully as the central midfielder in the attacking midfield band of the 4-2-3-1 BYU switched to this season. Just as encouraging perhaps has been the recent rise of Marissa Nimmer, with the youngster coming off the bench in recent weeks to provide an invaluable spark in the offense, including netting the winner here. Nimmer’s emergence could be crucial to BYU’s College Cup hopes, as one of the club’s biggest worries this year has been offensive depth after the loss of Niki Fernandes and Colette Jepson to injuries. BYU’s starting core is as strong as any in the nation, and this group becomes that much more dangerous with depth off the bench.

-Boston College fans were apt to breathe a sigh of relief with the return of Kristen Mewis from injury. Mewis had gone down late in the regular season for the Eagles and missed the club’s slaughter at the hands of Florida State in the ACC Tournament, heightening concerns that the superstar midfielder would play no further part in the club’s postseason run. Instead, the All-American made a massive impact upon her return, setting up Stephanie McCaffrey for the eventual game winner in the twelfth minute before icing it herself with about ten minutes to play. While even with Mewis, BC will be underdogs to Penn State on Friday, the odds are significantly better with her in the lineup. The dodgy defense will still have much to say as far as BC’s hope for a win is concerned, but with Mewis on their side if it turns into a goalfest, at least the Eagles have a fighting chance at springing the upset against the Nittany Lions.

-Some left it late this weekend, few left it later than Michigan, who trailed from the third minute on and were looking to be sinking to a disappointing defeat in Ann Arbor to state rivals Central Michigan. That’s when with forty seconds left to play, the Wolverines got one of their biggest goals in recent memory, when Clare Stachel, hobbled by injury, improbably scored a header off the post for a dramatic equalizer. The momentum was always swinging Michigan’s way after that, and it could hardly have been a surprise to see Nkem Ezurike pop up with a winner in extra time. It was a case of taking the good with the bad for the Wolverines. One the one hand, the heart and tenacity they showed in fighting to the death was quite impressive and could be a turning point in the evolution of the program under Greg Ryan. On the other, teams conceding so early and needing to equalize so late don’t last long in this tournament, and if Michigan pushes their luck again, they might not come out as winners. In any event, giving up fourteen shots probably wasn’t what Ryan had in mind from his traditionally defensive minded club. The Wolverines were able to unleash a barrage on CMU’s goal in response, but the defense has to tighten up and be focused from the beginning against Portland if they want to spring an upset on Friday.

-While Steph Panozzo if Illinois may have stolen many of the headlines as far as goalkeeping performances are concerned, Portland’s Erin Dees may have been just as sensational or even more stunning in her club’s shootout triumph over Washington State. It was the second straight season that Dees had come up aces in a shootout in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, after having stymied Oregon State last season. Dees would make three saves when she had to keep Portland’s season alive, in an unbelievable display of clutch penalty stopping. For good measure, Dees also went fifth in the shootout for the Pilots, making her spot kick. While Dees’ performance will likely be what’s talked about most when people look back upon this game, don’t forget that Kendall Johnson had a huge game as well for Portland. The left-back equalized shortly before the halftime break before helping setup Michelle Cruz for Portland’s second equalizer right after the hour mark. The Pilots also ended up being boosted by the return of Micaela Capelle from injury, though only in a cameo role off the bench. Garrett Smith will surely be hoping that another week will do Capelle some good, leading to further minutes while also hoping that Ellen Parker, who did not play in this game, is able to make it back for regional action this weekend as well.

-Tennessee probably thought it couldn’t get any worse in the NCAA Tournament than last season’s brutal beating at the hands of Ohio State in the opening round of the competition. Well, it got worse this season, with the Lady Vols losing in stunning circumstances to MAC double winners Miami (OH). The home side had seemingly finally done enough to put away the pesky Redhawks when Caroline Brown put Tennessee back in front with a quarter of an hour left to play after the sides had been tied for much of the match, either at 0-0 or 1-1. But with a goal that’s destined to live in lore or infamy depending on from which side you look at it, Kelsey Dinges’ last ditch lob over Julie Eckel sent the game to extra time. To their credit, Miami (OH) stayed on the front foot, pushing for, an eventually getting, their winner in the first half of the extra period. It’s hard not to give the Redhawks their plaudits, first for being so proactively brave in going right after Tennessee from whistle to whistle, including going deep on their bench, with five reserves seeing fifteen minutes or more, where as in comparison, only two of Tennessee’s bench players saw significant time. The MAC champions proved their mettle with the win, but it’s a shame that their big accomplishment will, in part, be forever entwined with Tennessee’s late meltdown. Brian Pensky’s side certainly showed some flashes of quality and potential this season, but four straight postseason games without a win shows that this group has a long way to go yet before it can be a contender on a national stage.

-Most anticipated fireworks between Colgate and Rutgers in their first round meeting in the Big Dance given the nature of the two clubs, their powerhouse offenses, and an aversion to defense at times. They got fireworks of a different sort in Hamilton though, with four bookings, including three Rutgers players getting cautioned. In the end though, the Scarlet Knights brought home the game’s only goal, though not for a lack of trying, with the clubs combining for thirty-three shots on the evening. Amy Pietrangelo’s early goal would hold up at the end of the evening, despite Colgate outshooting the Scarlet Knights, 20-13. The home side’s aim left something to be desired though, putting just five shots on goal. With such a young side, Colgate can still take heart in the experience in the NCAA Tournament this year and build towards the future. Given some of the exciting youngsters on their roster, it’d be a surprise to not see this group back in the Big Dance in the next few years. As for Rutgers, they can take heart in avoiding one land mine in the Raiders but now have to plan how to stop the tank that is Virginia. One thing’s for sure: If they give up twenty shots against the Cavs, it’s probably going to end with them going home after a lopsided defeat.

-Virginia kept their ACC form going in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as they hammered La Salle, 4-1. While the scoreline probably flattered the Cavs a bit as they tacked on two goals in the final fifteen minutes after the Explorers went for it, the result surely did not. In-form Caroline Miller and Morgan Brian both scored in the first half, with the former setting up the goal that eventually iced the game late on. While Steve Swanson downplayed his side’s final margin of victory by calling the match competitive, the result was still a comprehensive victory against a pretty good mid-major side. Can Rutgers slow UVA down on Friday? Probably not, but Swanson will still be wary of conceding on a set piece, as his Cavs did near the beginning of the second half in this one. If Virginia is operating at anywhere near the height of their powers, they should brush by Rutgers with minimal fuss on Friday. That would likely set up a huge Sweet Sixteen match against Duke that could end up being one of the best matches of the tournament.

-UCF hasn’t been short on NCAA Tournament drama as of late, and they certainly provided their fair share of it this past weekend against Miami (FL). Staring defeat in the face after going down in the twentieth minute, UCF kept pushing like mad and finally got their equalizer with a little over five minutes to play when Ashley Nicol’s diving header managed to find its way home. The Knights and Hurricanes would be dragged to penalties, where Amanda Cromwell showed some serious guts, replacing starter Lianne Maldonado with reserve Connie Organ. It was a risky move, considering Maldonado had played well during the night, and truth be told, it didn’t really work out that well for the Knights, as Organ didn’t stop one of the spot kicks, with Ally Andreini’s fateful miss for Miami (FL) caroming off the bar. Cromwell’s second big decision for the shootout ended up working much better, as Allie Geary, who hadn’t played a minute, stepped up for the fifth and deciding shot, sending Orlando into ecstasy as she drilled it. UCF will need a better performance if they’re to upset Florida again in the second round of the Big Dance as they did last season. But the Knights have a history of saving their best for their toughest challenges, and Friday’s match in Gainesville figures to be another blood and thunder showdown between two fierce rivals.

-The most stunning result of the weekend saw Oakland advance after a shootout against Big Ten Tournament winners Ohio State. The Buckeyes had looked to be dead certain for the second weekend of the tournament after coming into the NCAA Tournament on a roll, including winning their conference tournament in convincing fashion. In retrospect though, there were certainly faint glimmers of signs that something like this could have had a slight chance of happening. Just a few seasons ago, OSU had struggled to put away smaller sides like St. Francis (PA) and Dayton in the NCAA Tournament, and even this year, a very talented Buckeye squad had occasionally played down to the level of their opposition, most tellingly in the opening weekend of the season. Not to take anything away from a momentous result for Oakland. These Golden Grizzlies shouldn’t have been shocking anyone with their efforts last Saturday. They had, after all, drawn with Michigan State and Northwestern, while pushing Michigan hard the whole way in another non-conference match this season. OU also came in with NCAA Tournament experience from their outing against Wake Forest last season. Taking the lead inevitably made all the difference in the world, even if Ohio State equalized at the hour mark. The lack of composure in front of goal became readily apparent as the night went along, as OSU put twenty-eight shots up but only seven on frame. The Golden Grizzlies did get a bit lucky by the woodwork saving them twice, but it ended up being a battling result in the end. Few will give them a chance against Texas A&M on Friday, but they aren’t likely to care after this result and will be pining for another upset. For OSU, it’s a case of what could have been, as a talented senior class bids a disappointing NCAA Tournament farewell.

-Texas A&M may have ended up at the expected place at the end of the day, but Stephen F. Austin gave them quite the battle in their first round showdown. In fact, you could argue that the unfancied visitors caught the home side a bit cold early on, as they peppered the Aggie goal with shots and threatened with corners for the first quarter of an hour. It got to the point that A&M was forced into two substitutions within the first eighteen minutes, likely leading some to wonder if Aggie head coach G Guerrieri got his team selection wrong. If he did, he certainly made the right move by making proactive substitutions, with one of those coming in, Annie Kunz, netting the eventual winner less than fifteen minutes after entering. SFA wouldn’t go away until roughly the final ten minutes, but A&M would also have chances to add to their lead, hitting the woodwork on multiple occasions. In the end, A&M would prevail, but not without a fight from the Southland double winners. Guerrieri may have gotten a more desirable matchup against upset minded Oakland in the second round, but he still has plenty of questions and decisions on his plate. Kelley Monogue, struggling on and off in her recovery from a serious knee injury, lasted only those opening fourteen minutes, while midfield Jayne Eadie only made it for a little over half an hour. Given Kunz’s impact off the bench, some may question why the Aggies didn’t go with the powerful forward from the start, with Monogue used off the bench as an impact sub. It will also be interesting to watch the situation at full-back regarding Karlie Mueller. The rookie has looked a promising prospect when healthy, but only played the second half in this one, with Lindsey Witz playing the entire first half. If Mueller’s fit enough to go deep from the start, it’d be another big boost for an Aggie side that needs all the weapons it can muster for a potential trip to the Elite Eight.

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