What went down in the third week of college soccer?The aim each week is to bring you five stories that defined the week or help navigate the long road to Cary, North Carolina, and the Womens College Cup.Savannah McCaskill wins the Palmetto State derbySouth Carolinas junior forward can erase an asterisk on her list of accomplishments after she scored both goals in a 2-1 win over archrival and sixth-ranked Clemson on Saturday.Although neither she nor her teammates presumably felt any less jubilant upon eliminating their in-state rival in an NCAA tournament penalty shootout two years ago, the fact remained that McCaskill had never officially beaten Clemson, that 2014 draw sitting alongside losses each of the past two regular seasons. One of the relatively few in-state players on the Gamecocks and likely playing the rivalry game at home for the final time, McCaskill surely wanted to change that in front of 3,838 fans in Columbia.Unranked South Carolina asserted itself early, outshooting Clemson 8-1 in the first half, and McCaskill provided the reward for the patient buildup play with a deftly steered header to the back post off a cross in the 37th minute. She added her second goal with a good run off a long ball that was headed into her path early in the second half.It all bodes well for another prominent entry on her to-do list, erasing the sting of last seasons first-round exit in the NCAA tournament at the hands of UNC Wilmington.UCLA ascending againIf No. 11 UCLAs plan is to get back to business as usual in the NCAA tournament, having missed out on that event a season ago, the current stretch of schedule offers a useful blueprint. In the span of 15 days, beginning a week ago and concluding this coming Friday, UCLA takes on Texas A&M, Florida, Penn State and North Carolina in a four-game run at least equal to any a team would face in the final four rounds of the postseason. After an overtime win this week against the Nittany Lions, the Bruins are thus far 2-1-0 in that stretch -- without a loss in regulation.The winner this time came courtesy of freshman and Canadian Olympian Jessie Fleming, a header she kept on frame even while absorbing a blow in the back from a late-arriving defender. While the Bruins wait another year for Mallory Pugh, Fleming is off and running with three goals in her first two college games. Just imagine what shell do if she ever gets an easy game.ACC perfection takes different formsIt is no surprise that two ACC teams were the first to six wins this season. It is hardly a surprise that one of them is No. 3 Virginia, both because of the talent once again assembled in Charlottesville and because the Cavaliers havent exactly taxed themselves in the schedule department. Sundays 2-0 win against Pepperdine was their first against a top-tier opponent.More surprising, especially considering the 15-1 goal advantage for the season, is Wake Forests 6-0-0 start. The strength of the ACC tends to exacerbate the pain of rebuilding, but Wake Forest had little choice after enjoying life with the likes of Katie Stengel and Aubrey Bledsoe. Rock bottom came with a 5-12-2 record a season ago -- 10 of the 12 losses by either 2-1 or 1-0 scores. None of its individual wins this season are stunners, Dartmouth and New Hampshire the vanquished this past week, but the sum is already the most wins since 2013.While Duke and North Carolina battled to a scoreless draw and Florida State saw its rivalry game against Florida canceled by weather concerns, the Demon Deacons reclaimed the spotlight.Reality check for the Big TenTo be clear, the reality is that the Big Ten appears quite good. It is as stocked with nationally relevant teams as it has been in -- well -- ever. But the weekend tested the brakes on the bandwagon.It began well enough. Ohio State knocked off No. 16 Virginia Tech on Thursday and Michigan did the same against Mississippi on Friday (a week after the up-and-down Wolverines beat Notre Dame). But Friday also saw No. 13 Penn State absorb another one-goal defeat and No. 12 Rutgers fall to old Big East rival Georgetown. Then Sunday, both No. 9 Minnesota and Ohio State fell from unbeaten in games at No. 7 Duke and No. 4 West Virginia, respectively.Amid that, Wisconsin put up a challenge but ultimately managed only a point out of games at No. 2 Stanford (2-1 loss) and No. 22 Santa Clara (1-1 draw). The Badgers are now 1-2-3.Playing in a top-10 matchup for the first time ever, Minnesota played the part well against Duke. Simone Kolander and Josee Stiever looked like players who could change a game on any field. It just wasnt quite enough against the established elite. Which more or less summed up the Big Tens week.Long roads worth the effort for Cal and USCThis has been a long time coming for Cals Ifeoma Onumonu. As a freshman in 2012, Onumonu scored 11 goals for the Bears. It took her nearly three seasons to match that total, 2014 lost to a leg injury and 2015 producing a modest three goals in 16 games. She matched that 2015 total before Labor Day this season and made goal No. 3 count. Her goal at Texas on Sunday held up for a 1-0 win and gave No. 19 Cal a solid weekend sweep on the heels of a 4-0 win at Texas Tech.And that might not even have been the most impressive road swing by a Pac-12 school. Proving at least one USC defense could handle an offense from the state of Alabama, the Women of Troy blanked host Auburn 2-0 Sunday evening after beating Georgia 3-0 on the same field earlier in the trip. After losing its first two games of the season, USC has three quality wins in a row as it heads home to host North Carolina (and Loyola Marymount) this week. Mexico Mid Runner Onitsuka Tiger . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. 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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Walking a tight rope is not an image that comes to mind when thinking about the UConn womens basketball team. Yet the UConn staff said the Huskies are performing without a safety net in regard to players such as Katie Lou Samuelson, Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams.If so, they look about as sure-footed as The Flying Wallendas. Remember how UConn lost its big three from last season and was probably going to struggle a bit this year trying to replace those amazing players? Yeah, whatever.There is a reason most of us picked the Huskies as preseason No. 1, and it wasnt because we went into default mode. Its because there actually was more to see with UConn last season than just being dazzled by Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. Yes, it could be hard to look away from them -- but when you did, you saw the future was right there with them, and it looked pretty good, too.Now, the future is the present. Which looks a lot like the past. Thats exactly what UConn wanted.On Wednesday, the Huskies did what theyve done so often: throw the proverbial wet blanket on the so-called wide-open race in womens basketball this season. No, its not. UConn is again the team to beat, with a winning streak that now stands at 83 in a row.The top-ranked Huskies 72-61 victory over No. 2 Notre Dame was the best example yet in an 8-0 season of why theyre the national championship favorites again. UConn showed off a different big three Wednesday; last seasons trio left the Huskies and became the top three WNBA draft picks in April. While this seasons big three dont yet have the acclaim or the experience of last years trio, they are very impressive on their own.Samuelson, Collier and Williams combined for 57 points; they almost outscored the Irish by themselves.While last years star trio each had clearly different roles -- Jefferson was the point guard, Tuck the sturdy forward, Stewart the anything she wanted to be -- the Huskies top scorers against the Irish are harder to define position-wise.Thats one of the things weve learned to use to our advantage, said the 6-foot-3 Sameulson, the tallest of UConns starters. You can say that Gabbys almost playing our center, but shes smaller than almost every center in the country. That shows its a hard matchup. But you have difficult matchups with all three of us. It just opens up the offense a little bit more.Williams is just 5-11, but her leaping ability adds an edge to her lack of height. She had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists against the Irish. UConn coach Geno Auriemma used a descriptor for Williams performance Wednesday that he doesnt toss around lightly: magnificent. Even a fellow tough grader, associate head coach Chris Dailey, said she was eager to watch the game film to see some of Williams sky-high rebounds.Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw also praised Williams, who was limited by injuries as a high school player in Nevada but is now truly coming into her own.She got any rebound she wanted; her stat line was phenomenal, McGGraw said.dddddddddddd She really did a lot of damage. I was really impressed with her.McGraw said the Irish were expecting a challenge with Samuelson and the 6-1 Collier; theyre averaging 19.0 and 19.1 points, respectively. But Notre Dame wasnt necessarily expecting Williams to make a massive impact. Everybody better get used to that, though.I felt like we were all on the same page tonight, and it was fun, Williams said. I think I understand my team really well, and I know our dynamic. Im trying to be that leader that they can go to when we need to stay calm. I want my team to look at me like, OK, Gab, whats next? I think Ive really grown in that kind of position.Samuelson and Collier had their go-to moments Wednesday, just as they have had several times this season. Samuelson acknowledges there are still moments on the court when she looks around and thinks, Am I really ready to do this? or What should I say to my teammates now?But it really doesnt show on her face or in the way she plays. She looked very confident against Notre Dame.Stewie, Morgan and Mo were calm the whole time last year; nothing fazed them at all, Samuelson said. I think Im still looking to other people when I dont know what to do. Im still trying to learn things.One of the biggest things is, even if youre a little down on yourself or not sure what youre doing, you dont want your opponents to know that.The Huskies didnt show their exhaustion Wednesday. It was a physical, defensive battle with Notre Dame. And three of the Huskies -- Williams, Samuelson and Kia Nurse -- played all 40 minutes.In highlighting UConns big three, we dont mean to shortchange Nurse, the junior guard who is averaging the most minutes (34.4) for UConn. She had eight points and four assists Wednesday and is also a key part of why the Huskies dont seem to have lost any ground -- even though it seems like they should have.Another unbeaten foe awaits UConn on Sunday, though 9-0 Kansas State is unranked. The Huskies have two more games in December against teams currently ranked in the top 10. They host Ohio State on Dec. 19 and travel to Maryland on Dec. 29.But what can stop the Huskies 83-game win streak? (After all, its still second to the programs 90-game streak.) If Notre Dame couldnt do it, whos going to beat UConn?This is December 7, and I know theres a long way to go between now and the end of the season, Auriemma said. We purposely tried to put together a schedule this year that, going into March, there would be no doubt as to what we can and cannot do.I think up to this point, weve passed every test. I dont know that weve gotten a 100 on every test, but weve passed. And the tests are going to keep coming. But the fact that we are where we are, Im kind of surprised.He probably shouldnt be; he created this juggernaut, after all. And while the names of the stars might change, the overall outcome stays the same. Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys 2020 Jerseys NFL China China Jerseys ' ' '