BYU / Marquette Region Women's Soccer Tournament Breakdowns
The seeded teams in this region, BYU and Marquette, appear to have pretty clear paths to the final sixteen. Of course that is why they play the games, but both teams could have had a tougher draw. Marquette has had trouble with ACC teams, but cannot run into one until North Carolina with a trip to the College Cup on the line. The Golden Eagles lost to North Carolina 4-0 back in September. But BYU is the top seed and will have home field advantage throughout the tournament and the Cougars are extremely tough to beat at home.
#1 BYU vs. Utah State
The Aggies will take the short trip to Provo to attempt to pull off the giant upset. Utah State lost to the Cougars 1-0 earlier this season, but that was at Utah State. With this game at BYU, expect the Cougars to have an easier time than they did on September 20th. Utah State is playing much better now though, so they could at least make it interesting.
Washington vs. Auburn
This should a very good first round game between two relatively equal squads. Auburn is coming off a nice showing in the SEC Tournament. Senior goalie Amy Howard has not been extremely consistent, but she is a very good keeper. Washington may struggle to score against her and the Auburn defense. However, this game is in Seattle and that may be enough to tilt the scale in the Huskies favor.
West Virginia vs. Princeton
On paper, this will be a battle between West Virginia’s defense and Princeton’s offense. WVU sported one of the best defenses in the Big 12 while the Tigers averaged nearly three goals per game during the regular season. Jen Hoy netted 17 goals for Princeton on her own. Yet, the play of the Princeton defense could be the difference in this matchup. The Mountaineers have two great goal scorers in Kate Schwindel and Frances Silva and those two may be too much for Princeton to handle.
#4 Marquette vs. Illinois State
If you like scoring, this is the game to watch. Illinois State is one of the highest scoring teams in the nation and Marquette is not too far behind them. The Redbirds’ Rachel Tejada netted 18 goals on the season, but she is not the only player who can score for Coach Drew Roff. Kyla Cross, Abby Van Deventer, Sarah Mussallem, Aimee Wronski and Rachel Bostic, among others, are all capable shooters. But Marquette has a more tested and talented defense. They are capable of allowing a lot of goals, like four to UNC and five to Duke for example, but Illinois State is no North Carolina or Duke.
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