Zags Move Up and Down in Rankings.
11/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 8, 2005
SPOKANE, Wash. - For the fourth consecutive week the Gonzaga University women's soccer team has appeared in the national rankings, moving up thee spots to a program-best No. 18 in the Soccer Buzz poll, moved up six spots in the Soccer America poll to No. 19, moved up two spots in the Soccer Times poll to No. 23 and dropped two spots in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll to No. 23.
The Bulldogs, who capped off the regular-season with a 3-0 win over the University of San Francisco this past Saturday, was selected to receive an at-large bid into the 2005 NCAA Women's Soccer College Cup Tournament for its inaugural appearance in the field of 64. The Bulldogs will head to Fullerton, Calif. for the first and second rounds of the tournament at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The Zags open play on Friday against the 16th-ranked Women of Troy from the University of Southern California in a 5 p.m. match.
USC enters the contest posting a 12-5-2 overall record and a 6-2-1 Pacific 10 Conference, good for a third place finish. The Trojans are led offensively by Amy Rodriguez who has a team-leading nine goals and has added seven assists for a team-best 25 points. The Trojans defense is anchored down by Veronica Simonton who is bolstering a 0.87 goals-against-average and a team-leading 65 saves. This will be the first meeting between the two programs but not the first meeting for the Bulldogs and USC head coach Jim Millinder, who served as the head women's soccer coach at West Coast Conference rival Loyola Marymount University from 1994-95 posting a 0-1-1 record against the Bulldogs.
The two remaining teams in the bracket are host No. 15 Cal State Fullerton (17-3) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (13-6-3). These two teams will square off 30 minutes after the conclusion of the GU-USC match. The winners of each match will advance on to play each other on Sunday at 1 p.m. match at Titan Stadium.
Third round matches will be played as campus sites to be determined on Nov. 18, 19, or 20, as will quarterfinal matches on Nov. 25, 26, or 27. The 24th annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played on Dec. 2 and 4 at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas, with Texas A&M as the host.
