Stanford new #1; Melissa Henderson POTW

For the 2nd week in a row, there is a change at the top of the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s Tournament 64 National Ranking, as Stanford moves back to #1 following its win over Santa Clara and previous #1 Boston College’s loss to Virginia this weekend.

Paul Ratcliffe’s Cardinal are now 9-0-2 on the season, with draws against #2 Boston College and #3 North Carolina. These three would seem to be staking a claim as the elite of this year’s women’s field, although the likes of Portland, Notre Dame, Florida and Florida State may yet have something to say about this.

Oklahoma State moves into the top 10 following a pair of wins, and there are 4 new schools in the field, farther down the list, including West Virginia, Baylor, Wisconsin and Central Michigan, which beat former MAC leaders Miami (OH).

The Tournament 64 National Ranking is a running effort to project the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, including all automatic conference and at-large bids to the field. It is updated every Monday through the season. You can see the entire ranking here.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s Melissa Henderson (#16 Top 100 Upperclassmen Women) has been named TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Week based on her offensive exploits in a pair of victories by the Fighting Irish this weekend. Henderson scored 4 goals and added an assist as Notre Dame defeated Syracuse and St. John’s(w) in Big East play. With the honor, Henderson headlines this week’s TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week.

The full TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Team of the Week for Monday Sept. 27 through Sunday, Oct. 3 is as follows.

GK: Jill Flietstra, Michigan State
M: Eileen Maes, Washington State
M: Rachel Lim, Florida State
F: Blake Miller, West Virginia
F: Sarah Hagen, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
F: Melissa Henderson, Notre Dame
F: Vanessa DiBernardo, Illinois
F: Jennifer Williams, New Mexico
F: Colleen Williams, Dayton
F. Brooke Jacobs, South Carolina
F: Laura Heyboer, Michigan State

Player of the Week: Melissa Henderson, Notre Dame

The TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week is chosen after consulting match reports from all DI matches played in the preceding week.