Women’s Preview: Conf. tourney bonanza

Women’s Preview: Conf. tourney bonanza
by Travis Clark
November 7, 2014

While a few conferences avoid the tournament phase set to reach a crescendo this weekend, the main focus of Division I women’s soccer over the coming few days are the conference tournament semifinals, which will take place Friday. On Sunday, finals are scheduled and official spots are going to be locked up for the NCAA Tournaments.

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Teams on the bubble will have all eyes on the next few days, as Cinderella runs from low RPI teams can reduce the number of at-large bids available on Selection Monday.

Below is a preview of six major conference tournaments.

Atlantic Coast Conference (Greensboro, N.C.)

Field: Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Notre Dame

While the argument can be made that the ACC hasn’t been quite as fearsome as it has in seasons past, the quartet of teams traveling to Greensboro features four teams all capable of deep NCAA tournament runs.

Adding intrigue to Friday’s semifinal matchups (FSU-ND and UNC-UVA) is the fact that none of the teams have faced each other this season. Florida State and North Carolina shared the ACC regular season title with 9-0-1 records, and are the slight favorites to raise the crown on Sunday. There is potential for the weekend to be a star-studded affair, with talented midfielders like Dagny Brynjarsdottir (Florida State), Joanna Boyles (North Carolina), Morgan Brian (Virginia) and Morgan Andrews (Notre Dame) all more than capable of making huge impacts.

With no quarterfinals in the ACC this time around, it’ll be interesting to see how that has an effect (if at all) on the tournament.

American Athletic (Tampa, Fla.)

Field: UCF, East Carolina, South Florida, Connecticut

It’s an entertaining field in Tampa with a mouth-watering, potential upset in the first semifinal meeting between UCF and Connecticut on Friday. The Knights, who’ve dominated the AAC this season, suffered their only loss in conference play to the Huskies on the road, meaning that along with the chase for a tournament title, revenge is on the mind of UCF. It’s a matchup of two of the top forwards in the conference as UCF’s Tatiana Coleman dukes it out against UConn’s Rachel Hill.

East Carolina has an upset on its mind, as it represents the only team in the field who isn’t safe (at least on paper) for an at large bids. The only route to an NCAA tournament bid is only though the automatic qualifying spot, so it’s going to leave everything on the field on Friday against South Florida.

Big East (New York, N.Y.)

Field: DePaul, Georgetown, St. John's, Marquette

Another conference tournament that bubble teams will be keeping a keen eye on, as both St. John's and Marquette are well outside the at-large field. DePaul takes the field against Marquette in Friday’s second semifinal looking to keep its perfect record intact, as the high-scoring Blue Demons will look to knock out the Golden Eagles.

Georgetown faces the host St. John's at the same venue where it lost 1-0 earlier this year in regular season play. A loss could spell doom for the Hoyas’s at large hopes, but senior midfielder Daphne Corboz is going to be on a mission to score as many goals as possible against the defense led by Georgia Kearney-Perry.

Big 12 (Kansas City, Mo.)

Field: West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor

Another field with a couple of “safe” teams (West Virginia, Texas) looking to hold off a bubble team (Oklahoma) and an upset-minded Baylor hoping to storm into the NCAA field. The Mountaineers are the heavy favorites, and face Texas in its Friday semifinal, with a mixture of youth and experience. Goalkeeper Abby Smith is one of the keys to Texas’s hopes of the upset, as she has the ability to save anything and everything thrown at her.

A win over Kansas on Wednesday might have pushed Oklahoma over the bump and into the tournament via an at-large bid, though an upset loss to the Bears might change that. Regardless, it is likely to be a tight affair between a pair of programs doing everything they can to avoid a loss.

Big Ten (Purdue, Ind.)

Field: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota

Wednesday’s action in Indiana saw conference champions Penn State lose at the hands of Northwestern, while Minnesota edged Michigan in overtime. It leaves bubble teams sweating, as the Badgers represent the only team left in the field who can qualify via an at-large bid. Both Northwestern and Minnesota kept hopes of at large bids alive, and a semifinal win (especially for the Golden Gophers) could prove decisive.

Wisconsin is the heavy favorite, as the balance of a strong defense is buoyed by a dangerous attack through players such as Rose Lavelle, Kinley McNicoll and Cara Walls. But as the Big Ten tournament has already shown, upsets can still happen, with any of the other three teams capable of lifting the crown. Minnesota goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs has potential to catch fire and carry the team past the Badgers, while Cloe Lacasse spearheads the attack for Iowa heading into their meeting with the Wildcats on Friday.

SEC (Orange Beach, Ala.)

Field: Texas A&M, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina

The Big Ten wasn’t the only home of upsets on Wednesday, as Florida tumbled in penalty kicks to a Tennessee side that could potentially sneak into the NCAA tournament with a semifinal win against Kentucky on Friday night. The Volunteers made it to the SEC tournament as the 10th and final seed in the field, so to survive to Friday speaks to the team’s mentality and ability to grind out results. An ankle injury to freshman midfielder Carlyn Baldwin does leave the team with a hole in midfield against Kentucky, while Arin Gilliland continues to be influential for the higher-seeded Wildcats.

Texas A&M, as conference champions, are the clear favorites here. But the semifinal matchup against South Carolina is a tricky one, as Gamecock goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo has the ability to keep the dangerous Aggie attack at bay. The question for South Carolina is whether or not they can keep up with A&M’s attackers if it turns into a high-scoring affair.

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