Penn State / Portland Region Women's Soccer Tournament Breakdowns
The Nittany Lions still got the top seed despite an early exit from the Big Ten Tournament. With a small chink in their armor, Penn State could run into a bit of trouble in the long run. That trouble would likely come from Michigan, who tied Penn State on October 21st, or Portland, the fourth seeded team.
#1 Penn State vs. LIU-Brooklyn
LIU Brooklyn is back in the NCAA Tournament. Last year they lost to Virginia in the first round. They also reached the NCAA Tournament back in 2006 and 1999, losing in the first round both times. The Blackbirds will not score very often, but they do have a very good defense. Yet, Penn State has a very good offense. LIU Brooklyn will have to come up with a way to stop Maya Hayes, Christine Nairn and Mallory Weber. Few have had any luck stopping that dynamic trio and the Blackbirds will not be any different.
Boston College vs. Hofstra
Both Boston College and Hofstra are not opposed to allowing quite a few goals. This one could turn into a shootout pretty quickly. The Eagles rely heavily on Stephanie McCaffrey, Kristen Mewis and McKenzie Meehan for their scoring. Meanwhile, the Pride gets almost all of their goals from striker Leah Galton and midfielders Sam Scolarici, Lulu Echeverry and Jill Mulholland. Boston College is battle tested, but this game could come down to who can stop who and which goalkeeper is having a better day.
Michigan vs. Central Michigan
Central Michigan will make the trip from Mt. Pleasant down to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines. The Chippewas were a bit lucky to even make the tournament after falling to Miami in the MAC tournament final. CMU has some quality results, beating West Virginia and tying Marquette. Back in 2009 Central Michigan did beat Purdue in the first round and they will hope to knock off another Big Ten team in the first round this time around. Michigan has had some tough games lately, but has also just won one game in their last five contests. But losses to Ohio State and Illinois and a draw at Penn State are not horrible results.
#4 Portland vs. Washington State
With a second place finish in the tough West Coast Conference, Portland earned a spot among the 16 seeded teams in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Coach Garrett Smith’s team is well balanced and can take advantage of just about any team’s weakness. In this case, against Washington State, the Pilots will look to take advantage of the Cougars average defense. With the Pilots sporting great goal scorers like Amanda Frisbie, Kaila Cameli and Micaela Capelle, they can certainly take advantage of the Cougars defense. WSU goalkeeper Gurveen Clair will have her hands full.
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