Baylor v. St. Agnes in Division IIAA Championship Game

[just_do_it]

Saturday night's final between Baylor (18-1) and St. Agnes (17-1-1) ought to be a great matchup. Both teams are undefeated against Tennessee teams with their single losses coming at the elite Zionsville Invitational in Indianapolis. Baylor is currently ranked 4th nationally by ESPN.

[germantown100]

while i think St agnes is a top team in the state I think Baylor is better this year. I predict 3-1 Baylor.

 

Saturday night's final between Baylor (18-1) and St. Agnes (17-1-1) ought to be a great matchup. Both teams are undefeated against Tennessee teams with their single losses coming at the elite Zionsville Invitational in Indianapolis. Baylor is currently ranked 4th nationally by ESPN.

[lukelea]

while i think St agnes is a top team in the state I think Baylor is better this year. I predict 3-1 Baylor.

 

Well, as we know now, Baylor won convincingly 2-0. I thought they played better than in many a year -- maybe going all the way back to their glory days a decade ago when they won four titles in a row. It was textbook soccer, especially on the defense: relentless pressing, pressing, pressing. Tenny Butler completely shut down St. Agnes's start forward by not giving her an inch of space. But then the same could be said of all the rest of her teammates. It was quite a show, impressive, and a sheer pleasure to watch.

[somewhereinmemphis]

Well, as we know now, Baylor won convincingly 2-0. I thought they played better than in many a year -- maybe going all the way back to their glory days a decade ago when they won four titles in a row. It was textbook soccer, especially on the defense: relentless pressing, pressing, pressing. Tenny Butler completely shut down St. Agnes's start forward by not giving her an inch of space. But then the same could be said of all the rest of her teammates. It was quite a show, impressive, and a sheer pleasure to watch.

 

 

Heard Baylor played well. Congrats to the players and staff for a great year!

 

This was not only a replay of last year, but a preview of 2012, 2013, 2014.... St. Agnes has no competition from the west (Briarcrest, St. benedict and Hutchison) as they outscored their west counterparts 25-2 in the six conference games. I haven't looked, but suspect it is a similar situation middle/east.....

[ChattanoogaCannon]

Heard Baylor played well. Congrats to the players and staff for a great year!

 

This was not only a replay of last year, but a preview of 2012, 2013, 2014.... St. Agnes has no competition from the west (Briarcrest, St. benedict and Hutchison) as they outscored their west counterparts 25-2 in the six conference games. I haven't looked, but suspect it is a similar situation middle/east.....

 

Baylor will have an interesting transition next year as many key seniors are departing for the Division 1 college ranks. But, as you point out, Division 2 AA is a small division. They will be in the hunt every year.

 

I am curious about the Briarcrest program. I saw them play early in the year, and they seemed to have a strong line-up top to bottom, yet they were beaten handily by BGA. Have you seen them play?

[somewhereinmemphis]

Baylor will have an interesting transition next year as many key seniors are departing for the Division 1 college ranks. But, as you point out, Division 2 AA is a small division. They will be in the hunt every year.

 

I am curious about the Briarcrest program. I saw them play early in the year, and they seemed to have a strong line-up top to bottom, yet they were beaten handily by BGA. Have you seen them play?

 

I can't answer that one - I did not see them play this year!

[eastsoccer]

Definetly two top programs with talented ladies and exciting plays both offensively and defensively by Baylor and St Agnes. Not too suprising since there were at least 9 D1 commitments on the field. Glad I could watch on TSSAA site especially since it was such a disappointing article in the timesfreepress on the final games. However, Gene Henley had a great State Contenders article on Wednesday to set up the tournament weekend. Too bad he was reassigned.

[ChattanoogaCannon]

1320703900[/url]' post='2727756']

Definetly two top programs with talented ladies and exciting plays both offensively and defensively by Baylor and St Agnes. Not too suprising since there were at least 9 D1 commitments on the field. Glad I could watch on TSSAA site especially since it was such a disappointing article in the timesfreepress on the final games. However, Gene Henley had a great State Contenders article on Wednesday to set up the tournament weekend. Too bad he was reassigned.

 

Yes, very strange decision to send Gene to cover cross country when he does such a great job covering soccer.

[germantown100]

i don't believe the gap between St Agnes and Briarcrest will be as wide this next year. Briarcrest started strong this year..had a few injuries, etc and ended up fading at the end. If I remember right Briarcrest is mainly graduating two Sr's (one ctr mid and one outside mid). Next year, they will be lead by Gretchen Harknett (ole miss committment) and Summer Sheppard (Ark St) as their sr leaders next year plus some nice supporting talent.

 

St Agnes will reload with some nice young players but none can replace the output of Bethany Bunker in goals or assists. you will see a drop in their scoring for sure. Dont get me wrong...they will be the favorite until beaten in their district but I think scoring will be more difficult for them versus the past 4 years.

 

 

 

Baylor will have an interesting transition next year as many key seniors are departing for the Division 1 college ranks. But, as you point out, Division 2 AA is a small division. They will be in the hunt every year.

 

I am curious about the Briarcrest program. I saw them play early in the year, and they seemed to have a strong line-up top to bottom, yet they were beaten handily by BGA. Have you seen them play?

[somewhereinmemphis]

i don't believe the gap between St Agnes and Briarcrest will be as wide this next year. Briarcrest started strong this year..had a few injuries, etc and ended up fading at the end. If I remember right Briarcrest is mainly graduating two Sr's (one ctr mid and one outside mid). Next year, they will be lead by Gretchen Harknett (ole miss committment) and Summer Sheppard (Ark St) as their sr leaders next year plus some nice supporting talent.

 

St Agnes will reload with some nice young players but none can replace the output of Bethany Bunker in goals or assists. you will see a drop in their scoring for sure. Dont get me wrong...they will be the favorite until beaten in their district but I think scoring will be more difficult for them versus the past 4 years.

 

 

st. agnes will continue to score plenty of goals. while very productive, they could also be very predictable - play the ball down the right side and outrun everyone. that is not a criticism!!! just an observation - a good coach utilizes his advantages. i suspect they will attack from both sides more evenly which might very well produce more goals. The bigger question will be whether anyone can get by their defense. given the "reload", it will remain solid.

[germantown100]

st. agnes will continue to score plenty of goals. while very productive, they could also be very predictable - play the ball down the right side and outrun everyone. that is not a criticism!!! just an observation - a good coach utilizes his advantages. i suspect they will attack from both sides more evenly which might very well produce more goals. The bigger question will be whether anyone can get by their defense. given the "reload", it will remain solid.

 

While you state your case eloquently the problem still remains St Agnes is losing their #1 fwd for the last 4 years who set up goals to be scored on platters and scored many herself...for 4 years people knew their fwd was going to go down the right side and yet 99% of the teams couldn't match her for 80 mins....while st agnes will continue to stress defenses they won't stress them from the fwd position at the level they've done for the last 4 years....most coaches know what a lot of teams are going to do and their tendacies but stopping it is another thing.....like i said they are favored to win their district...baylor is losing some major critical sr girls so St Agnes may go the whole way but I still stand by they will not score as many goals this year and many games will be closer....it will be fun to revisit this next year and see what happens.

[repo]

Heard Baylor played well. Congrats to the players and staff for a great year!

 

This was not only a replay of last year, but a preview of 2012, 2013, 2014.... St. Agnes has no competition from the west (Briarcrest, St. benedict and Hutchison) as they outscored their west counterparts 25-2 in the six conference games. I haven't looked, but suspect it is a similar situation middle/east.....

Count your chickens!