Ryan's Picks:
Pick #1 St. Pauli Win or Draw
I was surprised to see that St. Pauli had the win or draw option. I believe that St. Pauli has a good chance to defeat Paderborn straight up, let alone draw with them. St Pauli is currently ranked third in the table (35 pts 16+ goal differential) while Paderborn is in fifth place (32 pts 11+ goal differential). St. Pauli is a strong roadside having earned points in 6 of 7 road games thus far. I would go with St. Pauli win or draw for the green.
Pick #2 Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal are the favorite to win the Women's soccer College Cup. The Cardinal have lost in the College Cup for the last three years. They are the more talented and experienced team. One note of caution, Florida State plays in the ACC which is the best conference in the nation. Other thanStanford, the other three teams in the final four are from the ACC. As a result, Stanford playing in the Pac 12 had a goal differential of +60 while Florida State had a goal differential of +26 in the ACC. like the Cardinal for the Green.
Pick # 3 Syracuse Orange
I like the Syracuse Orange to defeat the Florida Gators, at home. The Orange must find a way to deal with the distraction of the firing of their assistant coach Bernie Fine. Meanwhile, Florida had an impressive showing earlier this year in their only loss to #1 ranked Ohio St. The only area I see Florida having a major advantage in this game is rebounding. I expect the Orange to focus on this and take advantage of Florida's bad defense. Look for the Orange to use the crowd to their advantage, and win a close game.
Christian's Picks
1. St. Pauli: Win or Draw
I'd like to start out by saying that St. Pauli is actually favored to win this game straight up which makes me raise an eyebrow as to why they also have the draw option.... Paderborn is only 36% to win according to the odds. St. Pauli and Paderborn are 3rd and 5th respectively with a +16 GD and a +11 GD. There are no recent games which can be compared to this matchup that are relevant so I am simply going off of the feeling that there's a reason why St. Pauli is favored away from home. I see a boring, low-scoring draw. I would be shocked if Paderborn wins this..... This will end either 0-0 or 1-1.
2. AC Milan: Win
This is a tough one to call, it really is. However, I feel confidently that Genoa just can not pull this one off. AC Milan has the best offense in Serie A undoubtedly and I definitely see Ibrahimovic scoring one here. Dude's a beast. Just to express how potent their offense is, Milan has scored at least once in their last 10 of 12 matches. With Milan's goaltender, Abbiati, who has been pretty nice as of recently, I can definitely see them blanking Genoa 1-0. The teams are pretty even but with Milan slightly favored on the road, I like them to squeak out a win here.
