SEC Soccer Week 3 Preview: A Week of Marquee Out of Conference Games

SEC Soccer Game of the Week

No. 8 Florida's only game this week takes them to Tallahassee Friday night to take on in-state rival No. 2 Florida State. Both teams traveled to Oklahoma this past weekend to take on Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Florida lost to Oklahoma 2-1 and beat Oklahoma State 4-0. Florida State won both games with a 1-0 win over Oklahoma and a 2-1 (2OT) win at Oklahoma State. Florida conceded a sixth minute goal to Oklahoma and struggled to get break down the Sooners tightly packed defense before giving up a penalty that led to the second goal for the home team in the 63rd minute. Florida fought back to get a Savannah Jordan goal in the 72nd minute, but could not get an equalizer. In Sunday's match against Oklahoma State, the Gators opened the scoring just 2:11 into the game with Havana Solaun opening her scoring account for the year. Florida added three more goals after the 73rd minute to keep Oklahoma State winless through four games.

Defending national finalists Florida State has been number two in each of the three NSCAA polls, but went from two first place votes to six first place votes (out of a possible 28) this week. The Seminoles are led by senior attacking midfielder Dagny Brynjarsdottir. Brynjarsdottir, an Icelandic international with 34 senior caps, is one of the top players in the country. In the preseason, she was ranked the number four player nationally by topdrawersoccer.com and is a 2014 Hermann Award watch list member. Brynjarsdottir leads Florida State in scoring this season with three goals after scoring 14 goals in 2013. The Seminoles roster has a northern European feel with players from Iceland (2), Ireland, Finland, England and Germany. Junior forward Cheyna Williams transferred from Vanderbilt after leading the Commodores in scoring in the 2013 season and making the 2013 All-SEC first team.

Last year, Florida State defeated Florida 3-0. The Gators and Seminoles meet up at 7 p.m. Friday night and the game will be screened on ESPN3.com.

The Undercard

• Clemson travels to No. 9 South Carolina Friday night in another battle of in-state rivals. Clemson enters the game 4-0-0, including a 2-1 win over Auburn.
• No. 18 Arkansas goes on the road to face No. 14 North Carolina and Duke, the first team outside the top 25.
• Georgia hosts No. 17 UCF Sunday. UCF rose one spot in the NSCAA poll despite a loss at Texas A&M.

Talking Points

• The aforementioned UCF-Texas A&M game ended with the Aggies coming out on top 3-0. Senior Kelley Monogue scored three goals over the weekend, including two in the UCF game, to earn her SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
• Texas A&M went up one spot in the NSCAA poll to number six while remaining unbeaten. After suffering their first loss, Florida dropped from six to eight. South Carolina and Arkansas both made jumps of three and seven spots respectively in the poll to numbers nine and 18. Ole Miss and Missouri are listed in the "Others Receiving Votes" category.
• Kentucky opened its new stadium with a 5-0 win over Francis Marion and a 3-0 win over Ohio. The $7.7 million Bell Soccer Complex replaces an existing facility on the same site.
• Freshman Colby Ciarrocca scored a pair of game winning goals this past weekend for Vanderbilt to help earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors. On the weekend Ciarrocco scored the first four goals of her college career which places her in a tie for second in goal scoring in the SEC.

Week 2 results

Friday, August 29, 2014

at Louisville 1, Ole Miss 0
at #12 South Carolina 1, #22 Boston U. 0 (2OT)
#23 BYU 1, at Tennessee 0
at Kentucky 5, Francis Marion 0
at Auburn 3, UC Irvine 0
Alabama 5, at Austin Peay 0
at LSU 6, Northwestern State 2
at Oklahoma 2, #6 Florida 1
Missouri 2, at TCU 1 (OT)
at #7 Texas A&M 3, #18 UCF 0
at Vanderbilt 2, Cincinnati 1
Arkansas 0, at Texas 0 (2OT)
at Long Beach State 3, Georgia 2

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Arkansas 4, Stephen F. Austin 2
at Kentucky 3, Ohio 0
#6 Florida 4, at Oklahoma State 0
at Ole Miss 5, Louisiana-Lafayette 1
at #12 South Carolina 2, Milwaukee 0
at #7 Texas A&M 4, Illinois State 1
at Auburn 3, Georgia Southern 0
Georgia 2, at Cal State-Fullerton 1 (OT)
Vanderbilt 2, at Memphis 1
at Mississippi State 2, Southern Miss 1 (2OT)
Rice 2, at LSU 1
Alabama 2, at Middle Tennessee 2 (2OT)
Missouri 3, at SMU 1

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Nicholls State 0, at LSU 3

Week 3 Schedule