What went down in the sixth week of college soccer? The aim each week is to bring you five stories that defined the week in college soccer or help navigate the long road to the (still homeless) Womens College Cup.And sometimes to point out moments like this. Or this.Or the fastest goal in NCAA womens soccer history from Megan Searson.A season-defining week, ACC-styleAs Miami welcomed No. 2 Virginia this past week, winless against the Cavaliers since 2006, it also worked against a goal drought of more than 300 minutes this season. Three consecutive 1-0 defeats left the Hurricanes within a game of .500 entering the week, an uncomfortable place for any ACC team yet to play the bulk of its grueling conference schedule.But after 40 shots without a goal in those three most recent setbacks, Miami took an early lead on one of its first shots Thursday, a counter leading to a terrific finish from Gracie Lachowecki. The Hurricanes made it two goals before halftime, standout freshman Kristina Fisher converting a penalty, and saw out a 2-1 win with an organized defensive effort.It was a major achievement, the best (although notably not the only) win against a top-five opponent in coach Mary-Frances Monroes four seasons. Yet it still meant only as much as Sundays game against unranked Syracuse. And for a time, it looked like Miami might squander the momentum. It hit a post against the Orange. It hit the crossbar. Players opened up shooting angles, only to put their shots wide. But then Ronnie Johnson volleyed a ball out of air to break the scoreless tie in the 72nd minute and Lachowecki sealed a 2-0 win in the 81st minute.Thursday gave Miami one of the best wins in program history. But Sunday consolidated that into a feasible path to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012.All square in top-five showdownMother Nature, at least partly, took care of what the NCAA should have years ago. With teams often playing twice in the span of three or four days, there is no sensible reason to extend regular-season games beyond 90 minutes.A draw can be a fair result, like the 1-1 final between No. 3 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia that ended with less than a minute to play in the first of two 10-minute overtime periods Sunday because of severe weather. That it was close and low-scoring cant be a surprise. There have been high-scoring routs in the past, but seven of the past eight meetings were either decided by a single goal or ended level (five of those games ending 1-0 for one side or the other).The difference here, after Veronica Latsko gave Virginia an early lead and Kristen McFarland pulled Florida State even in the second half, is that it doesnt so much confirm the excellence of the two teams as much as confirm that both are works in progress.A season-shaping week, SEC-styleA Sweet 16 participant just a season ago, Auburn isnt worried about ending a Miami-esque postseason drought. But the immediate future looked a tad parched as the Tigers embarked on a road trip to No. 12 Florida and Georgia this past week with a near-.500 record for the season.Seven goals later, including four from Kristen Dodson, Auburn looks like Auburn often does.That the weeks drama came Sunday, rallying from a goal down at halftime to score three unanswered in a 4-2 win at Georgia, says a lot about the game that preceded it. Auburn shut out Florida in Gainesville for the first time in series history, and the Tigers didnt even need a clean sheet in a comprehensive 3-0 win. With only a loss at conference leader South Carolina, Auburn is in good shape among a pack of chasers.Floridas frustration, on the other hand, was summed up by Savannah Jordan unsubtly lowering her shoulder into an Auburn defender whose jersey tug moments earlier had gone unspotted or uncalled by the referee. The Diego Costa homage (fast forward to 8 minutes remaining in the first half here) didnt cost Jordan a card, but after a stretch of games in which she received minimal service, it dripped with symbolism.Yet it was that same relentless energy, better channeled, that kept Jordan chasing what proved to be the winning goal Sunday against Tennessee. That result keeps the Gators in the SEC mix.Duke adjusts without a starIt might seem a curious choice, but Louisville was the last team No. 7 Duke wanted as it adjusted to life without Kayla McCoy.Give them North Carolina. Give them Florida State or Virginia. Just dont ask the Blue Devils to get a shot past the Cardinals. Duke took 31 shots without scoring in Thursdays 0-0 tie against Louisville. It took 24 shots without scoring in a 0-0 draw in the same game a year earlier. And 15 shots without scoring the year before that in a 0-0 draw. You get the picture.So as worrying as it was that Duke went without a goal in its first game since learning McCoy would miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles, Sundays 4-0 win against No.19 Virginia Tech -- and more specifically, two goals from Imani Dorsey -- should soothe nerves.The vanishing unbeatenAs the leaves start falling, so do the unbeatens. Sure, No. 1 Stanford continues to roll along just fine after a 3-0 win against Oregon. So, too, do No. 8 South Carolina and No. 12 South Florida, the Bulls still both unbeaten and untied. But the list gets short after that.Unbeaten through nonconference play, Central Michigan opened its MAC schedule with a 4-0 loss to Northern Illinois. Previously unbeaten without allowing a goal, Lehigh watched both labels go by the wayside in a 3-2 loss to Colgate. The same week it cracked the Top 25, No. 21 Northwestern took its first loss of the season at Rutgers. Until this week the only Big 12 team with a better winning percentage than No. 5 West Virginia, TCU lost its first at Oklahoma.So where are we supposed to look for unexpected perfection? Bucknell remains 8-0-1.Or you could turn to Division II Central Missouri. The Jennies (the curiously gender-specific nickname for a school where the mens teams go by Mules) are one of two remaining NCAA teams that are unbeaten, untied and yet to allow a goal. The other is Division III Rowan. 49ers Jerseys China . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Cheap 49ers Jerseys .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. https://www.49ersjerseysale.com/ . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Wholesale 49ers Jerseys .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Fake 49ers Jerseys . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Mike Brown suspects the septicaemia that forced him to miss the start of the season may have been the result of the punishment absorbed during Englands summer tour of Australia.Brown sat out Harlequins first two matches of the new Aviva Premiership campaign after being hospitalised by the potentially life-threatening blood infection, but has now been passed fit to make his comeback against Exeter on SaturdayThe 31-year-old full-back spent five days under medical supervision and lost 6kgs, forcing him to feast on as many calories as possible in an attempt to regain what he had shed.Although the cause of the infection is unknown, Brown admits that starting all three Tests in the 3-0 series whitewash left him battered and bruised.I woke up one morning with a pain in my shoulder. I thought it was just a bang in training then I started feeling quite ill and was sent for an MRI and blood tests, Brrown said.dddddddddddd I ended up in hospital for five days with septicaemia.I was cold, with shivers and bug symptoms, and my shoulder pain was getting worse and worse. My haemoglobin was down, white blood cells down, liver down.I had no lacerations or bites or anything. It could have been a trauma from the Australia tour -- I was quite bruised.Its been good because Ive been able to teat what I want. To start with I was eating anything.Coming back, you have to take it step by step and see how you react because the body systems take a bit of a hammering.To start with I didnt really know what was going on. It was frustrating because Id done four weeks of really hard training.My weight was still down last week, but Im ready to go now. Playing rugby is what Im about. ' ' '
