Florida St., Duke one-two in Division I women’s poll ahead of ACC showdown
By Jimmy LaRoue
Florida State retains its place atop the NSCAA NCAA Division I women’s top-25, while Duke, with two wins over the weekend, moves up to No. 2, just in time for the ACC opener between the two teams on Thursday (ESPN3), and UCLA slides one spot to a tie for No. 3 with Stanford, who moves up two spots. Boston College rounds out the top 5.
Florida State (6-0-0) remained undefeated after getting a Tiffany McCarty goal in a 1-0 win at Arkansas. McCarty, a Laurel, Md. native, was able to get around Arkansas goalkeeper Kelly Rollard and score into an empty net in the 17th minute. That goal stood up.
Duke (6-1-0) picked up a pair of wins, a 4-1 win over San Diego and a 5-2 win over then No. 12 Marquette (3-2-1), getting a pair of goals from Laura Weinberg. Marquette also lost to then-No. 18 North Carolina (4-1-1) over the weekend.
The Blue Devils played Sunday without starting midfielder Nicole Lipp and leading scorer Kim DeCesare, both out with ankle injuries, while it will have starters Mollie Pathman and Kelly Cobb, who helped the U.S. Under-20s to the World Cup championship, just in time for a key Florida road trip this weekend.
DeCesare sprained her ankle in the 6th minute of last Friday’s win over San Diego. Lipp has been out with a sprained ankle since the Washington State match.
UCLA, despite outshooting Loyola Marymount 27-4, had to rally for a 1-1 tie against Loyola Marymount last Friday before shutting out then-No. 22 Tennessee 1-0 Sunday.
Stanford, tied with UCLA at No. 3 this week, won twice, defeating Boston University 1-0 and got two goals from senior captain Mariah Nogueira in a 6-0 win over Georgetown.
Boston College (5-0-2), meanwhile, moved up from No. 6 to No. 5 after beating Northeastern 2-0 and tying then-No. 8 Central Florida (5-1-1) 1-1.
Central Florida, Oklahoma State–sliding down four spots–Virginia, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M round out the top 10.
Florida State will be tested again when it faces No. 14 Wake Forest at home Sunday in a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship final, also on ESPN3.
NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s – National – Poll 4 – September 11, 2012
| Rank | School | 1st Votes | Total Points | Prev. | W-L-T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida State | 32 | 824 | 1 | 6-0-0 |
| 2 | Duke | 1 | 764 | 4 | 6-1-0 |
| 3 | UCLA | 0 | 743 | 2 | 5-0-1 |
| 3 | Stanford | 0 | 743 | 5 | 4-1-1 |
| 5 | Boston College | 0 | 686 | 6 | 5-0-2 |
| 6 | Central Florida | 0 | 596 | 8 | 5-1-1 |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | 0 | 582 | 3 | 7-1-0 |
| 8 | Virginia | 0 | 578 | 9 | 7-1-0 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 0 | 554 | 11 | 8-0-0 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 0 | 532 | 14 | 6-1-0 |
| 11 | Penn State | 0 | 484 | 7 | 5-2-0 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 0 | 432 | 18 | 4-1-1 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 0 | 393 | 15 | 5-1-0 |
| 14 | Wake Forest | 0 | 341 | 17 | 6-1-1 |
| 15 | San Diego State | 0 | 330 | 20 | 7-0-0 |
| 16 | Rutgers | 0 | 270 | 21 | 7-1-0 |
| 17 | BYU | 0 | 248 | RV | 6-1-0 |
| 18 | Pepperdine | 0 | 239 | 10 | 5-2-0 |
| 19 | Portland | 0 | 222 | 19 | 4-1-1 |
| 20 | Long Beach State | 0 | 209 | 16 | 5-2-0 |
| 21 | Missouri | 0 | 207 | 13 | 5-1-0 |
| 22 | Florida | 0 | 162 | 24 | 3-2-1 |
| 23 | Washington | 0 | 148 | RV | 7-0-0 |
| 24 | Marquette | 0 | 92 | 12 | 3-2-1 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 0 | 68 | 22 | 5-1-1 |
Records are as submitted by the rankers and reflect the current 2012 record through Sept. 9
Also receiving votes: Georgetown 66, Mississippi 46, Oregon State 37, Baylor 23, William & Mary 22, Kansas 17, Cal State Northridge 12, Harvard 10, Louisville 9, Connecticut 9, Santa Clara 8, Minnesota 4, Kentucky 4, Central Michigan 4, Washington State 4, Memphis 1, Ohio State 1
