For women's soccer, a challenger not exactly out of their league

Throughout the history of women's college soccer, perhaps no dominant narrative has been more enduring than the ACC's supremacy in the sport.

Home to the most storied program in history, North Carolina, and a number of other members that have risen to keep pace with the Tar Heels, the ACC in any given year normally reigns above all. It's no different in this year's NCAA Tournament, where three of the four No. 1 seeds come from the conference and nine teams from the league qualified and advanced to the second round.

But the SEC, at least this year, has been close behind the ACC in terms of quality of play and unpredictability. A record eight teams were selected from the SEC to play in the NCAA Tournament, and although only four remain, the Terrapins women's soccer team knows its matchup with No. 3 seed Auburn deserves the same amount of respect as any against North Carolina or Virginia.

"We know they're technical. We know they're physical. We know they're fast," defender Remi Kriz said. "We know they're athletic, and I think we're preparing like we would prepare for any game. We play teams in the ACC that are technical, fast and physical all the time, so I don't think it's any different preparation."

The Tigers enter this afternoon's game in Stillwater, Okla., on a four-game winning streak that includes an SEC Tournament title as a No. 7 seed. En route to the championship, Auburn defeated the conference's Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds. In the eight games before the tournament, the Tigers had managed only two wins.

But the talent on the Tigers (15-6-2) is too much for coach Brian Pensky and the Terps (11-5-4) to ignore.

"They've got one of the best center midfielders in the country and they've got one of the best collections of midfielders in the country, and then they've got three or four kids up top who can score goals," Pensky said. "They're going to give us all we can handle."

Tigers midfielders Ana Cate and Katy Frierson have combined to score 18 goals this season while assisting on 19 more. If the Tigers dictate the pace of the game, it will be through the midfield, an area where the No. 18 Terps have struggled to maintain possession this year.

"Kids like Ana Cate and kids like Katy Frierson can deliver great passes from the midfield or make runs into the box themselves and score goals," Pensky said. "We've got to take good care of the ball and make sure that if and when they come at us that we drop in and protect ourselves and clog the midfield and clog the backline so they can't play right through us."

The Terps won't be the Tigers' first taste of the ACC this year, having already taken on No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Wake Forest in early-season matchups. The Tigers handed the Blue Devils one of their three losses on the season, while Wake Forest, a team the Terps tied, beat Auburn, 4-1, despite being outshot.

"I feel like when teams play ACC teams, they don't compare them to other ACC teams," forward Ashley Grove said. "It's just like every team is different, every team has their strengths and weaknesses."

Awaiting the winner of the Terps-Tigers matchup is the victor of the nightcap featuring No. 2 seed Oklahoma State and Illinois. But Pensky had no interest this week in talking about the Cowgirls' gaudy stat sheet in their 9-1 first-round win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, or the Fighting Illini's ousting of defending champion Notre Dame.

"Oklahoma State and Illinois do not matter if we can't take care of Friday," Pensky said.

Today, the Terps' situation isn't unlike those they have seen all season long: a matchup against another highly ranked and skillful opponent. And they feel as though their grueling schedule, which included matchups against all four No. 1 seeds, provides an experience that is unequaled by a team from the SEC or anywhere else in the nation.

"It gives us confidence," Grove said. "I feel it gives us perspective, also. … That's awesome. How many teams in the country can say they've played all four top seeds and gotten one loss? I don't think anybody can. We know we can play with the best. We've played with the best, so we're just trying to beat the best now."

dgallen@umdbk.com