Graham Hays on the first two rounds

Graham Hays has yet another nice article at

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3708341&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Selected quotes:

On which teams made statements in first rounds:
"But looking beyond individual teams, one conference used the opening weekend to make a collective statement. And it's not done yet. All three Colonial Athletic Association teams in this year's field advanced to the second round, and James Madison is one of four unseeded teams in the third round after upsetting third-seeded Wake Forest 1-0 on a goal from Lindsay Bowers in the final 10 minutes Sunday. William & Mary proved it belonged in the field to anyone who might have questioned its at-large credentials by rallying to beat South Carolina in the first round. And surprise conference tournament champion Northeastern knocked off Ivy League co-champion Harvard on penalty kicks in the opening round."

On biggest upset:
"James Madison is in line for this tag after beating Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. And Illinois gets a nod for surviving a penalty kick shootout against fourth-seeded Missouri. But given what was required of Rutgers to get to the first two rounds, let alone survive overtime games against Big Ten tournament champion and regular-season co-champion Penn State and No. 4 seed and Big 12 regular-season champion Oklahoma State, it was the most pleasant surprise."

And #1 and #2 on: "Which players had the best individual performances?

"Sophie Schmidt, Portland: Spreading the wealth around seemed to be one of the themes for the top seeds, with performances like that of Virginia's five goals from five players more common than any individual scoring binges. Portland partook in some of that during 6-1 and 2-0 wins against Northern Arizona and Texas, respectively, but Sophie Schmidt looked ready for the spotlight on a team missing some attacking options. Schmidt put up two goals and an assist in Friday's rout of the Big Sky champions, but she also made short work of the Longhorns with a goal and an assist Sunday.

"Diane Wszalek, James Madison: A number of keepers turned in terrific performances in the first two rounds, including penalty shootout winners Erin Guthrie for Rutgers and Kristin Olsen for USC. But Wszalek might have been the best of the bunch, leading the Dukes to their first Sweet 16 appearance in 12 years. The redshirt sophomore needed to make only three saves in the second round against Wake Forest, but the Demon Deacons' 16 total shots and seven corner kicks suggest she had to be on her toes most of the time. And that was the easy game. On Friday, Wszalek came up with 11 saves to help preserve her team's 1-0 lead in a win against Georgia."

Congrats to Sophie on this well-deserved recognition.

I'll take Sophie over Wszalek

This is another good article by our friend, Graham.

He pointed out that Rutgers is on a roll, taking out archrival Penn State and seeded Oklahoma State on the opening weekend. My hope is that they continue their juggernaut out here on the west coast by tripping up the Cardinal. It's asking a lot but..........Go Scarlet Knights!!!!!

i'm with you poopdeck,
but like you, i think that is highly unlikely, so i will trust in our lovely ladies to take care of business. an i am more confidant they can defeat stanford then i am that stanford will lose in the 3rd round.