It is a time for Women, Cascadia is where you want to start looking

by Jeff Lageson

Women’s soccer takes center stage this weekend with both the NCAA College Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 draw taking place.

The NCAA College Cup is lacking a Cascadia presence in the Final Four, but local teams did well earlier in the tournament.  Seattle University got its first ever win over Washington State.  Washington made its way to a Sweet 16.  Washington State seniors played in their 4th NCAA tourney over their four years.

The PAC 12 sent nine teams into the tourney and boasted two number one seeds in Stanford and defending champion UCLA.  UCLA was the only #1 seed to fall short of the Final Four, Stanford carries the PAC 12 banner into a Final Four featuring two ACC teams with neither named UNC for a change.

With three #1 seeds and a #2 seed it is hard to really pick a favorite, but Florida State is playing so close to home that has to give them some sort of a boost.

The pots are set for the WWC 2015 draw on Saturday. The USA is one of 6 seeded countries, with Germany, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and France joining them.

 

With the expansion to 24 teams a true Group of Death seems unlikely, but a team could still draw Mexico, Australia, and Norway into their group, so there is still some potential there. A soft draw of one of the African teams, Thailand, and a debutant like Holland is probably a best case scenario.

 

Once the draw is complete, it will be interesting to chart out a tournament and see if the dream USA v Canada final in Vancouver is possible or likely.