Florida State takes over top spot in women’s top-25 Division I poll
By Jimmy LaRoue
With Stanford’s 1-0 loss to unranked West Virginia at the Penn State Invitational Sunday, Florida State moves up from third to first in this week’s NSCAA women’s top-25.
The win by West Virginia (2-2-0) broke Stanford’s 28-match unbeaten streak overall, and a 64-match unbeaten streak in regular season play. Stanford’s last tie was a scoreless draw at Maryland last season. The Cardinal’s last loss came Dec. 5, 2010 to Notre Dame in the NCAA final, and its last regular season loss, a 1-0 decision, was to UCLA Oct. 31, 2008.
The Cardinal (2-1-0), which fell to No. 4 in this week’s poll, had come off an emotional 3-2 win over No. 6 Penn State before a crowd of more than 5,000.
Florida State (2-0-0) moves to the top spot for the first time in six years. The Seminoles are coming off of a 1-0 win over current No. 9 Central Florida, getting the lone goal of the match from Dagny Brynjarsdottir. It was the Seminoles’ only shot on goal in the match.
“We are happy to earn the accomplishment, and to be ranked No. 1 at this point in the season is nice,” Seminoles coach Mark Krikorian told the school’s athletics website. “[But] to be honest, we don’t talk about where we are ranked at any point during the year. We are only concerned with where we are ranked in the last poll of the season.”
UCLA moves up from fifth to second, getting 2-0 wins against Fresno State and then-No. 22 Illinois over the weekend. The Bruins outshot Fresno State 27-4 in the win Friday, getting goals from defender Abby Dahlkemper and midfielder Chelsea Cline.
Against the Illini, the Bruins got second half goals from Zakiya Bywaters and Ally Courtnall, as both got their first goals of the season.
Oklahoma State (4-0-0) climbs a spot to No. 3 in the poll, getting home wins against Vanderbilt and Creighton.
Three different Cowgirls scored in the 3-1 win over Vandy, with goals coming from freshman Allie Stephenson, Megan Marchesano and freshman Makenzie Kahan. Stephenson and Kahan got their first-ever goals for the Cowgirls.
In the 4-1 home win against Creighton (0-2-1), freshman Madison Mercado scored twice–the team’s first and last goals–as the Cowgirls scored four unanswered goals after trailing in a match for the first time this season. Marchesano scored the Cowgirls’ second goal, and her second goal of the season, to give them the lead for good, and the team’s third goal came from a Taylor Mathews penalty.
Pepperdine (3-0-0) climbs to No. 5 in this week’s rankings on the strength of wins against then-No. 21 Auburn and Pacific.
Senior Anisa Guajardo scored her third goal of the season in the 2-1 win over Auburn, and sophomore forward Amanda LeCave tallied the game-winner, her first of the year.
LeCave scored twice more in the 3-2 win over Pacific, with freshman Mandy Davis also scoring.
Duke (2-1-0) fell from No. 2 to No. 6 with a 3-2 loss to then-No. 20 Florida (1-1-1) Sunday. The Blue Devils led 2-0 before Florida rallied for the win. Duke won an exhibition against the University of Montreal, 5-1, Friday.
Boston College, Penn State, Central Florida and Virginia round out the top 10.
NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s National Poll – Week 2
| Rank | School | 1st Votes | Total Points | Prev. | W-L-T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida State | 24 | 810 | 3 | 2-0-0 |
| 2 | UCLA | 5 | 763 | 5 | 3-0-0 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 1 | 760 | 4 | 4-0-0 |
| 4 | Stanford | 2 | 721 | 1 | 2-1-0 |
| 5 | Pepperdine | 0 | 669 | 8 | 3-0-0 |
| 6 | Duke | 1 | 642 | 2 | 2-1-0 |
| 7 | Boston College | 0 | 610 | 10 | 3-0-0 |
| 8 | Penn State | 0 | 593 | 6 | 3-1-0 |
| 9 | Central Florida | 0 | 526 | 9 | 3-1-0 |
| 10 | Virginia | 0 | 476 | 11 | 3-1-0 |
| 11 | Long Beach State | 0 | 446 | 15 | 3-0-0 |
| 12 | Marquette | 0 | 438 | 13 | 2-0-0 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 0 | 366 | 16 | 4-0-0 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 0 | 346 | 20 | 3-0-0 |
| 15 | Wake Forest | 0 | 339 | 7 | 2-1-1 |
| 16 | Rutgers | 0 | 279 | 23 | 4-0-0 |
| 17 | Texas A&M | 0 | 255 | 12 | 2-1-0 |
| 18 | Missouri | 0 | 243 | RV | 3-0-0 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 0 | 189 | 14 | 0-1-1 |
| 20 | Portland | 0 | 179 | 18 | 2-1-0 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 0 | 144 | RV | 4-0-0 |
| 22 | Florida | 0 | 138 | RV | 1-1-1 |
| 23 | Oregon State | 0 | 111 | RV | 3-0-0 |
| 24 | Santa Clara | 0 | 109 | 25 | 2-1-0 |
| 25 | San Diego State | 0 | 88 | RV | 4-0-0 |
Records are as submitted and reflect the current 2012 record through Aug. 26
Also receiving votes: Georgetown 75, La Salle 74, Maryland 54, Illinois 47, Baylor 40, Texas Tech 36, San Diego 31, Boston University 23, Louisville 23, Memphis 12, Dayton 12, Auburn 11, Michigan 11, West Virginia 9, Miami (Fla.) 7, Minnesota 7, Cal State Northridge 5, Washington 3, Connecticut 2, North Caroina-Greensboro 2, Mississippi 1
