New England and National D1 Womens Soccer (only please)

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Talk about a "must win" for BC! After all of Friday's games, they have slipped to 16 in the RPI. Lose on Sunday and they will be out of the Top 20!! Virginia Tech dropped to 21 with their loss on Thursday, so even if BC does win, they will still not yet have a win over a Top 20 side, but it will be their best win of the season. Its never easy to go on the road and get a win in the ACC, and VT will be super motivated after their first loss, but BC has to come away with two points. If they are at 20 (or worse) at the mid-point of the season, earning a top seed is going to be a real stretch!

How can they come away with two points? 0, 1 or 3 points?

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How can they come away with two points? 0, 1 or 3 points?

Two ties were possible until they lost to Wake.

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This is Chris Henderson's preview of the VT-BC game from All White Kit's list of today's games to watch.

Virginia Tech vs Boston College – 1:00 PM

Two sides who felt the sting of defeat on Thursday night will meet in Blacksburg, hoping to keep pace in the ACC title race. Virginia Tech got a cold dose of reality on Thursday against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Hokies had begun the season with nine straight wins, including six straight shutouts going into their second league game. It took less than a quarter of an hour for all of that to unravel though, as UNC scored two quick goals and then went up 3-0 in the thirty-fifth minute. VT would pull one back shortly after but couldn’t muster up enough offense to mount a big comeback. The continued absence of offensive talisman Kelly Conheeney due to a concussion continues to be felt, and her lingering absence could prove to be detrimental for the Hokies’ hopes of a top half finish in the league. With or without Conheeney, they’ll have their hands full with a Boston College side all too eager to make up for Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Wake Forest. Considering the Eagles had scored thirteen goals in their previous two matches, had scored multiple goals in five straight, and hadn’t been shutout all season, few expected Wake to stop the BC attack. But stop them they did, keeping a clean sheet and holding Kristen Mewis without a shot on goal the entire match. Going the other way, Wake exposed a sometimes flaky Boston College defense, with Katie Stengel’s double ending the Eagles’ unbeaten season. The odds of keeping these Eagles grounded for too long don’t appear to be great though, meaning Virginia Tech will have to put in an exemplary performance to walk away with a win on Sunday. Neither of these clubs wants to be stuck with two losses after two weeks of league play though, meaning there should be some urgency on the field in Blacksburg, which could lead to a classic affair in this ACC showdown.

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How can they come away with two points? 0, 1 or 3 points?

Sorry, I forgot that the ACC does use 3 points for a win in conference. The NCAA doesn't its 2 points for a win when determining RPI. So, BCs current 7-1-2 is viewed as a .8 winning percentage by the NCAA, not ,766

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This also from AWK is about the Wake-BC game -

The Demon Deacons kept Boston College’s explosive offense off the board on Thursday, holding Kristen Mewis without a shot on goal over ninety minutes. It was another exemplary display from a group that has kept four clean sheets in five games and hasn’t conceded multiple goals all season. The real story was Katie Stengel’s big night, as she toyed with the Boston College defense en route to scoring both goals in the 2-0 win. The brace allowed Stengel to break the school’s points and goals record despite the Floridian having played just more than two seasons with the club.

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This is Chris Henderson's preview..... The odds of keeping these Eagles grounded for too long don’t appear to be great though..

Chris Henderson flies like an Eagle! Smart guy.

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Score at BC-VT?

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Score at BC-VT?

Found it myself. 2-1. BC trialed until the 84th minute. Goals at minute 84 and 86 - both by McCaffrey.

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Well done!

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The ACC standings are not what anyone expected at this point in the season. Who woulda thunk Duke and UNC would be in the bottom half? Virginia Tech was undefeated at 9-0-0 and has dropped to bottom 3 by losing two games. Both Maryland and Virginia are undefeated.

W L T Pts. W L T
Maryland 3 0 1 10 7 2 2
Virginia 2 0 1 7 8 1 1
Florida State 2 0 0 6 9 0 0
Wake Forest 2 2 0 6 8 3 1
Boston College 2 1 0 6 8 1 2
Duke 1 1 1 4 7 2 1
North Carolina 1 1 1 4 5 2 2
Virginia Tech 1 2 0 3 9 2 0
Clemson 0 3 0 0 5 4 2
Miami 0 2 0 0 5 4 1
NC State 0 2 0 0 5 6 0

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Found it myself. 2-1. BC trialed until the 84th minute. Goals at minute 84 and 86 - both by McCaffrey.

Everything is better with Bacon! Crispy congrats!

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Critical win for the Eagles. VT isn't as good as their non-league record would imply, but coming home winless would have been a disater for BC. The win will get them back around 10 in the RPI, and that is a good spot with all the big fish (UNC, Duke and FSU) still on the docket. They need to get 3 wins and a tie against those three, and Virginia and Maryland if they want a national seed. 2-2-1 probably keeps them at, or near, the top 8. Finish with a losing record in those 5 games (as they did last year) and they will need a long run in the ACC playoffs to get a couple Tourney home games.

BC aside, the big story in New England is now up in Hanover. The Big Green were predicted as a mid-level Ivy entry (and may still be) but right now they represent the only NE team (other than BC) in the RPI Top 40. With a solid Pepperdine (and BU) still on their horizon, and the Ivy being above average this year, they are in excellent shape for a better RPI. Keep an eye on Dartmouth during the next couple of weeks!!

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Critical win for the Eagles. VT isn't as good as their non-league record would imply, but coming home winless would have been a disater for BC. The win will get them back around 10 in the RPI, and that is a good spot with all the big fish (UNC, Duke and FSU) still on the docket. They need to get 3 wins and a tie against those three, and Virginia and Maryland if they want a national seed. 2-2-1 probably keeps them at, or near, the top 8. Finish with a losing record in those 5 games (as they did last year) and they will need a long run in the ACC playoffs to get a couple Tourney home games.

BC aside, the big story in New England is now up in Hanover. The Big Green were predicted as a mid-level Ivy entry (and may still be) but right now they represent the only NE team (other than BC) in the RPI Top 40. With a solid Pepperdine (and BU) still on their horizon, and the Ivy being above average this year, they are in excellent shape for a better RPI. Keep an eye on Dartmouth during the next couple of weeks!!

I'd rather have some wins and ties against the big fish already behind me.

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I'd rather have some wins and ties against the big fish already behind me.

BC has still not beaten a Top 20 side, Virginia Tech had slipped to 21 before Sunday. However, when you are in the ACC, finding RPI points is never hard, because the reality of the way the system works is that you need to not only win, but beat top teams - if you want to see things improve. BC is at #9 in the unofficial adjusted RPI. That is very very good right now. Two of the teams currently ahead of BC (BYU and San Diego State) are going to lose RPI points even if they win because they play significantly easier league schedules. BC has four teams left in the current top 20 (FSU, UNC, Virginia and Duke) and another (Maryland) in the Top 30. That is a lot of possible up-side. Of course these are all demanding contests and the reality of picking up 3 wins against that level of competition is not easy. But if you want a top 8 (and preferably Top 4) seed that is what you muct do.

Its still very early, but expect Penn State and the winner of the Pac-12 to get a Top 4 spot. A little harder for PSU, but they can (and should) win out and that will be enough. If Missouri or Texas A&M can maintain their current pace in the SEC, they too will be in line for a high seed. The difficulty in the ACC is that there is so much quality, and so much parity amongst the top teams that its hard not to escape league play without a couple of losses. Two won't hurt much, but the third will get you in some trouble. I would expect the top three teams in the ACC will be top 8 seeds. So for BC its that simple - get in the top 3 of the ACC!!

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Critical win for the Eagles. VT isn't as good as their non-league record would imply, but coming home winless would have been a disater for BC. The win will get them back around 10 in the RPI, and that is a good spot with all the big fish (UNC, Duke and FSU) still on the docket. They need to get 3 wins and a tie against those three, and Virginia and Maryland if they want a national seed. 2-2-1 probably keeps them at, or near, the top 8. Finish with a losing record in those 5 games (as they did last year) and they will need a long run in the ACC playoffs to get a couple Tourney home games.

BC aside, the big story in New England is now up in Hanover. The Big Green were predicted as a mid-level Ivy entry (and may still be) but right now they represent the only NE team (other than BC) in the RPI Top 40. With a solid Pepperdine (and BU) still on their horizon, and the Ivy being above average this year, they are in excellent shape for a better RPI. Keep an eye on Dartmouth during the next couple of weeks!!

You're predicting that the Dartmouth RPI will improve over the next few weeks?