Florida Region Women's Soccer 2nd and 3rd Round Tournament Breakdowns
We have seen this game before in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. When UCF made their great run to the quarterfinals a year ago, they knocked off the Gators in the second round. The Knights will attempt to do it again. This time around UCF beat Miami in the first round, knocking out the Hurricanes in penalty kicks. Florida had a little smoother ride in the first round, beating Florida Gulf Coast 2-0 on goals by Erika Tymrak and Annie Speese.
#3 Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame
This is one of the more intriguing second round matchups in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Wake Forest is a strong team that has had some recent success in the tournament and it was just two years ago that Notre Dame won it all. The Demon Deacons have not been the model of consistency this season and now one bad showing is all it takes to go home. Wake Forest will need to keep their intensity up and not be too complacent about their recent successes. Notre Dame, who beat Milwaukee 3-1 in the first round, has more than enough talent to win at Wake Forest. They will need leadership out of players like Rebecca Twining and Elizabeth Tucker and, more importantly, consistency out of their young goalkeepers.
Florida has been a hot team lately, but they have a tough road ahead of them. If they can get past UCF, Wake Forest or Notre Dame will be waiting. These are four very good teams who all have the legitimate capability of reaching the quarterfinals. Every team except Florida has players on the roster who have reached the quarterfinals before. And Florida is the best team this year. Any way you look at it, there will be some very, very interesting games in Gainesville and Winston-Salem.
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