W-League Feature
Thursday, August 29, 2013
The Women’s NCAA Division I season enters its second week with a number of interesting non-conference matchups set to be aired on national television and online this weekend. Standouts from the Sounders Women, Colorado Rush, LA Strikers and Carolina Elite Cobras will appear in some of the weekend’s key contests.
The University of Texas makes a trip to the northwest during the weekend, with the Longhorns’ contests against Oregon State and Washington being aired by the Pac-12 Network. Former Sounders Women defender Brooke Gilbert will play an important role for Texas, and is likely to go up against a number of W-League standouts as her side visits Oregon State on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET, with Jenna Richardson, also of the Sounders, hoping to jumpstart the Beavers’ season with their first victory.
Oregon State had a tough trip to Florida last weekend, and is hoping for more from Chelsea Buckland, who played alongside Richardson for the Vancouver Whitecaps Women in 2012. LA Strikers goalkeeper Samantha Prudhomme had a solid first start to the season for OSU after a good summer that saw her post a 5-1 record and 1.000 goals-against average, and is looking to maintain that form this weekend, while the Colorado Rush’s Stacey Drobney is also expected to feature prominently.
The Atlanta Silverbacks’ Ryann Davie and Oregon will face the Longhorns on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET to complete the weekend, with Davie opening her account for the Ducks this past week in their contest with Portland. Former Real Colorado Cougar forward Brianna Pugh is also set to play a key role for Oregon.
The Sounders Women’s Lindsey Elston will also feature in the Pac-12 Network’s other two contests this weekend as she leads the University of Washington against Baylor on Friday evening (6:30 p.m. ET) and Boise State on Sunday (5 p.m. ET). Elston is joined on the Huskies by fellow Sounder Isabel Farrell, and they will face a Baylor side led by former Colorado Rush forward Briana Campos, who already has two goals and an assist for the Bears this season, and former Charlotte Lady Eagles forward Victoria Hoffman.
Another west coast standout will feature on Sunday night as St. John’s hosts North Dakota State in a game that can be seen on ESPN3.com as the LA Strikers’ Rachel Daly leads the Red Storm into action. Daly, an All-Western Conference selection this summer, was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week for her strong performances during the opening weekend of the season.
Elsewhere, South Florida hosts Clemson on Friday night at 6 p.m. in a game that can be seen on NSCAATV.com, with former Vancouver Whitecaps defender Demi Stokes set to lead the Bulls into action as they look to continue their undefeated start.
The Bulls also feature VSI Tampa Bay FC’s Sarah Miller, who scored the equalizer as the Bulls earned a 1-1 draw with Texas last Sunday, and Victoria Abnathy, who had five goals this past summer before opening her account for the Bulls in their victory against Arkansas Pine-Bluff in their opening game of the season. Clemson, meanwhile, is led by Carolina Elite Cobras defender Tabitha Padgett, who helped her side reach the W-League Championship this past summer as she appeared in every game for the Cobras.
Padgett’s teammate with the Cobras, Alex Ramsey, is also in action on Monday night as LSU hosts BYU on CSTV at 8 p.m. ET. Ramsey had three assists for the Cobras during the summer, and started both of the Tigers’ opening two games this fall as LSU opened with a pair of victories.