Women's DI Thursday recap, Weekend preview

by Travis Clark

August 25, 2017

There were several exciting matchups on Thursday night as the women’s DI season steams towards another weekend of play.

No. 17 Virginia hit the road to face No. 3 West Virginia. The two sides each struck in the second half of play, before UVA defender Megan Reid scored from a set piece to secure a 2-1 overtime win for the ACC side.

The upset of the night wasn’t provided by the Cavaliers, however. Wake Forest played host to No. 10 South Carolina, and emerged with a 3-2 win. Savannah McCaskill scored twice in the first half, to put the Gamecocks up by one at the half. The home side struck twice shortly after halftime through Bayley Feist and Hannah Betfort to pick up the valuable win.

Thursday’s clash between Santa Clara and UCLA delivered on the hype, as the two teams combined for six goals in the first half. The Bruins cantered to a 4-2 victory thanks to a hat trick from Hailie Mace in a wild, back and forth affair.

Preview the best matches of the weekend below.

Friday, August 25

No. 2 Stanford (2-0) at No. 14 Florida (2-0), 5 p.m. (SEC Network)

Easily the marquee matchup of the weekend, Stanford delivered on the first two games of its opening season road trip. Freshman Catarina Macario has been amongst the goals early and often, scoring three times across the opening two games. This matchup wraps up Stanford’s three-game road trip to start the 2017 season, and it’s the biggest test of the trio. Gabby Seiler is a key focus for Florida, as the defender will need to provide leadership at the back to help the Gators keep things tight in front of their own goal. Going forward is where work in progress remains, even coming off the back of a 5-0 win against Troy. Canadian freshman Deanne Rose opened her account in that match, while the Gators do have the midfield quality to cope with the likes of Andi Sullivan and Tierna Davidson. These two teams have combined to put on a show in recent matchups, and this meeting should be no different.

No. 1 Penn State (2-0) at No. 23 Arkansas (1-1), 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network+)

The Nittany Lions hit the road for a single game this weekend, but it’s a big one. Penn State cruised to a pair of wins to open the season, looking as menacing as preseason expectations suggested. They matchup well against an Arkansas team that won one, and lost one to begin the season. The Razorbacks are still shuffling pieces into place, though remain dangerous through holdovers like Stefani Doyle and Kayla McKeon. A low-scoring affair wouldn’t be a huge surprise given both sides are stout at the back on paper.

No. 25 Auburn (1-0-1) at No. 18 Clemson (2-0), 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

It remains early in the season for two sides still very much in the building process after coping with significant turnover. Auburn struggled at bit more from a results perspective, as they could only muster a draw against Lipscomb. Wins over SIUE and Indiana have provided the excitement for Clemson, though this matchup at home is a much stiffer test. Kristen Dodson’s yet to find the back of the net this season, something that the Auburn star will look to rectify against Clemson. Defender Samantha Staab and midfielder Julie Mackin are two holdovers from last year that provide Clemson’s spine and that will look to dominate proceedings centrally.

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