Five Things: Women's contenders emerging?

With each passing week of the Division I women’s soccer season, the picture gets clearer about what the 2014 campaign might look like.

Below are five takeaways from the earliest portion of the season.

Early look at contenders

National titles are never won in early September, but the early season action affords college soccer fans a glance at who might be around later this year.

UCLA looks primed for another sterling run (as we’ll get to later in this column), Virginia seems to be there or thereabouts when it comes to the great campaign put together in 2013, while Florida State is very much capable of yet another run to the College Cup. Stanford has shown early signs that it is back to the form of a few years ago, and Penn State is a promising blend of youth and experience, despite dropping a close 1-0 encounter against North Carolina.