DaSilva's Bracket Breakdown: Division I Women
by Matt DaSilva |
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
The 2009 NCAA Divisions I, II and III men's and women's
lacrosse tournaments were announced Sunday, with the standard fare
of intrigue and drama surrounding the brackets. LMO's Jac Coyne,
Matt DaSilva and Paul Ohanian play Monday morning
midfielders with post-selection analysis.
Bookmark LMO at www.laxmagazine.com
for the most widespread coverage of the NCAA tournaments.
BRACKET
(All first round games Sunday, May 10 at higher seed)
No. 1 Northwestern vs. Massachusetts
No. 8 Princeton vs. Georgetown
No. 5 Duke vs. Virginia
No. 4 Penn vs. Fairfield
No. 3 North Carolina vs. Towson
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. Vanderbilt
No. 7 Syracuse vs. Boston University
No. 2 Maryland vs. Colgate
LAST TEAM IN
Vanderbilt
FIRST TEAM OUT
Stanford
SNUBBED?
Stanford rocked the RPI cradle with its win over Ivy League
champ Penn on Saturday. It was Stanford's second straight win over
the Quakers. Northwestern is the only other team to defeat the
Quakers the last two years. In her first year at the Palo Alto,
Calif., institution, Amy Bokker has managed to lead a team from
tumult to the brink of an NCAA tournament appearance.
But none of it was enough.
Most years, that Penn win puts Stanford in the tournament. But the
ACC and Big East gluttons ate up five at-large berths combined. And
the committee would have been hard-pressed to give the Cardinal the
nod over Vandy, given the strength-of-schedule component -
bolstered that the Commodores got to play Northwestern twice in the
ALC.
You could make an argument for Maryland as the top seed,
considering the undefeated Terps emerged from the ACC regular
season and tournament gauntlets unscathed. But c'mon - who in their
right mind is going to argue against Northwestern?
BEST FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP
Syracuse-Boston University
These two offenses light up the scoreboard. No stall ball here. BU
has some of the most accurate shooters in the nation, led by Sarah
Dalton, while Katie Rowan-led Syracuse should have no problem
imposing on the Terriers' defense.
UPSET WATCH
Princeton
Georgetown was a victim of its own dominance. As the top seed in
the Big East tournament, the Hoyas got a first-round game against
Louisville -- which weakened their numbers despite a win - and then
lost to Notre Dame in the conference championship. That allowed
both ‘Cuse and Notre Dame to leapfrog them for a seed.
Georgetown has the playmakers in Molly Ford, Jordy Kirr and Ashby
Kaestner -- as good and complementary a trio as any in Division I
-- to rock an upset of Princeton. The Tigers are 2-0 against
Georgetown, however, in NCAA tournament play.
EASIEST TITLE ROUTE
Maryland
The way the seeds and geographical elements played out, Maryland's
first-round opponent (Colgate) is weaker than Northwestern's
(UMass). And who would you rather host in a quarterfinal -- the
winner of Syracuse-BU or the winner of Princeton-Georgetown? The
Terps' path is the easiest.
FIVE BURNING QUESTIONS
Will Hilary Bowen return in time for
Northwestern?
Bowen, the Wildcats' star senior attacker, tore her ACL last month
and put off surgery in hopes of returning in time for playoffs.
It's unlikely Northwestern would deploy her until absolutely
necessary, perhaps in the quarterfinals, should the ‘Cats
advance. If so, this is a story worth watching.
Which team is most capable of derailing
Northwestern?
NU can't be too excited to see Penn in its half of the bracket,
considering the recent nip-and-tuck trajectory of the two programs.
But anything other than a Maryland-Northwestern championship game
has to be a disappointment in this field. They're the only two
undefeated teams in Division I, and the athleticism is
unparalleled. If there's any poetic justice, the Terps are the only
team capable of running with the Wildcats.
Can Notre Dame recapture the final four magic of
2006?
Saturday's gutsy win over Cornell showed a resolve the Irish have
lacked since '06. There was no letdown from winning their first Big
East championship. The focus is there. Kailene Abt has been the
unforeseen element among UND's four 40-plus goal scorers. The Irish
are fresh off that conference title. As the brackets bear out,
winning the Big East was no small task this year. They are playing
with much more confidence than they were when they lost to
Vanderbilt (their first-round opponent) back on April 15.
Will the real Virginia please stand up?
There's no questioning the Cavaliers' talent. But their
inconsistency this season was perplexing. (Old Dominion?
Seriously?) No team came closer to knocking off vaunted
Northwestern. UVA lost by one in the teams' April 19 encounter. But
then Maryland worked the Wahoos in the ACC semifinals. They have
something of a mental edge over first-round opponent Duke in
postseason play, however, knocking the Blue Devils out in the NCAA
semifinals three times.
Who will Jaclyn Murphy root for in the first
round?
Much has been made of the former cancer patient's relationship
with Northwestern, and how it launched the Friends of Jaclyn
campaign, but former NU assistant and current UMass head coach
Alexis Venechanos was integral to launching the effort.
Northwestern thumped UMass, 22-5, during the regular season, but
UMass has gained confidence from being pushed to the limit in the
Atlantic-10.
