TDS Women's Division I Top 25: Aug. 31

by TopDrawerSoccer

August 31, 2015

Over the past year, only one team has figured out a way to beat the Florida State soccer powerhouse, not once, but twice: in state rivals Florida.

The Gators topped the Seminoles thanks to a three-goal first half outburst, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes, holding on for a 3-2 victory after a relentless second half of attacking soccer from visiting Florida State.

With the Florida win, it opened the door for a new No. 1 team, as Virginia moves to the top of this week's rankings update.

Life without dynamic stars Morgan Brian and Danielle Colaprico hasn't been too difficult so far, as the Cavaliers defeated Cal Poly and Delaware by a combined scored of 8-1 over the weekend. Freshman Courtney Petersen scored twice and assisted across the two games, as Virginia has now scored 16 goals from its first three games. Much more demending matches are on the imminent horizon however, as the ACC side travels to California for games against UCLA and Pepperdine this weekend.

Stanford moves into the No. 2 spot after a 4-0 win against visiting Boston College on Friday night. Like Virginia, a strong freshmen class is a big piece to the puzzle this season, and it was first-year attacking Michelle Xiao's two goals that led the way in the win over the Eagles.

With the Seminoles now in the No. 3 spot, No. 4 North Carolina continued its strong offensive start to the season, defeating Texas 2-0 on Friday and cruising past UTSA on Sunday 5-0. Penn State battled to a 0-0 draw against Duke to maintain its fifth spot in the rankings, also defeating Arkansas 4-2 on Sunday.

Notre Dame, Florida, UCLA, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech round out the top 10.

Check out the full Top 25 for week 3.

Related Topics: Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Pacific 12, SEC