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Thu Feb 25 2021 | Ella Brockway | College
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Ohio State left its Feb. 14 loss to Northwestern knowing it had played far from its best.
The Buckeyes were held scoreless until the second half of their eventual 23-7 loss, and even though they were facing one of the best opponents in the country, they knew they were better than what transpired on the field in Evanston.
They spent the next week of practice even though it was still only the second week of the season in reset mode. They went back to the drawing board, drilling through 50-50 competition scenarios and making the necessary adjustments to avoid a repeat performance in its next game. Another top-10 opponent was next up on the slate: That Team Up North, No. 9 Michigan.
Thu Feb 25 2021 | Ella Brockway | College
PHOTO COURTESY OF VIRGINIA ATHLETICS
When Virginia faced off against in-state rival Richmond last February, it found itself on the losing end of the matchup for the first time in 14 years. The game was back-and-forth until overtime, when the Spiders scored a last-second game-winner and won 15-14.
So as the Cavaliers prepared for the rematch in 2021, coach Julie Myers said her returning players had one message: “There’s no way we’re going to let that happen again.”
Then-No. 18 Virginia followed through on that promise, taking down then-No. 10 Richmond 15-9 on Friday. The majority of its goals came from veteran players who remembered the bitter taste of last year’s loss, and they did what they could to ensure the end result would be different this time around. Virginia jumped to No. 7 in the rankings as a result, while Richmond fell to No. 12.
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USC finished with a 6-0 record in the shortened 2020 campaign, but it struggled on the draw. The Trojans lost the draw control battle in five of their six matchups and averaged a conference-low 11 per game. The Women of Troy also lost Kerrigan Miller and Kaeli Huff to the transfer portal, both of whom were important pieces on that draw circle in their four years in SoCal.
It looks like McDaniel may have solved that problem. At the very least, she could help lessen the blow of losing those two program staples. Her 13 draws were the most by any player in the Pac-12 in the first weekend of games and tied for the second-most in a single game among all players in the country.