As I’ve been writing for most of the season, this week’s release of the TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 64 National Ranking for women’s soccer once again shows Stanford as the undisputed #1 in the country. The Cardinal finished their season undefeated and undisputed champions of the Pac-12. They are 2-time national runners-up but they look more likely to win it all this year than either of the previous two seasons, when they were indeed favorites to win it all, but fell short by a hair’s breadth.

 

But with the final Tournament 64 projection (after this week we start filling in the slots based on how the teams actually perform in the tournament), we can see how difficult a job the selection committee has.

 

The 30 automatic qualifiers are simple enough, although we again wonder why some of the smaller conferences have their berth go to the postseason tournament winner when all that does is increase the risk that the league’s best team, as evidenced by season-long league performance, won’t be who represents the conference. There’s 2 or 3 glaring examples of that in this year’s field, but this is the way people do it,except for those enlightened souls in the Ivy, WCC and Pac-12.

 

It’s selecting the 34 at-large berths where the process becomes more dicey. One thing we see more and more clearly, and we welcome, is that parity is coming to the women’s game. Yes we may still have the usual suspects making up the Final Four, err, College Cup field in December at Kennesaw State University, but there are more and more teams capable of pulling off the win over anybody on any given day. This has to make recruiting a more competitive entity and builds the hope coaches have of bulding their particular programs into national powers. Upward mobility is within reach in the women’s game.

 

So we took our best effort at selection. There will be teams on the bubble feeling aggrieved at being left out (don’t worry, the committee does not take our lead, of that I’m sure). We still wish the RPI wasn’t such a heavy factor but unless the committee decides to break precedent this year, it will be again. 

 

 

On the individual side, Auburn’s Katy Frierson wins our Player of the Week award as part of the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s College Team of the Week. The list of 11 is chosen after reviewing every match report for Division One soccer. If you saw the SEC final on television Sunday, you understand why she was singled out among many top performers for the honor this week. 

 

 

GK: Kelsey Wys, Florida State

D: Bry McCarthy, West Virginia

D: Megan Streight, Texas A&M

D: Tara Connors, William & Mary

M: Katy Frierson, Auburn

M:Marissa Mykines, Illinois

M: Joey Molacek, Army

F: Sydney Leroux, UCLA

F: Stephanie Ochs, San Diego

F: Colleen Williams, Dayton

F: Christabel Oduro, Memphis