No. 1 Virginia 1, No. 22 Maryland 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Top-ranked Virginia ran its win streak to 11 games with a 1-0 victory against No. 22 Maryland on Sunday.
Sophomore Brittany Ratcliffe scored the lone goal of the afternoon with 17 seconds remaining in the first half to keep the Cavaliers (11-0, 5-0 ACC) as the nation's only unbeaten and untied team. The Terrapins fell to 6-5 overall, 2-3 in the conference with the loss.
The Cavaliers had the better of chances throughout the first half, but couldn't find the opening goal until late in the period. With time ticking down to the break, Ratcliffe received a ball in the midfield and dribbled to the top of the box, where she chipped a left-footed shot over the keeper for her seventh goal of the season. All seven of Ratcliffe's goals have come off the bench as she set a new Virginia season record for goals as a substitute.
Virginia outshot the Terrapins 11-4 in the second half, but couldn't add to the lead. Despite being held to a season-low one goal, the Cavaliers were able to post the victory by recording their sixth shutout of the season.
The Cavaliers outshot Maryland 21-9 on the afternoon and had a 5-3 corner kick advantage. Freshman Morgan Stearns made three saves in goal for Virginia to post her fourth shutout of the season. Rachelle Beanlands made five saves for the Terrapins.
Sunday's crowd of 2,540 was a Klöckner Stadium record for a women's soccer contest, beating the previous record of 2,011, set against Virginia Tech in 2007.
No. 3 Florida State 1, Clemson 1
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Third-ranked Florida State (9-0-3, 4-0-2 ACC) earned a 1-1 tie at Clemson (6-2-3, 3-1-1 ACC) on Sunday afternoon inside historic Riggs Field thanks to a late equalizer by Dagny Brynjarsdottir as the Seminoles stayed unbeaten on the year.
Clemson grabbed the early lead on a goal by Vanessa Laxgang in the 11th minute. Claire Wagner sent a deep ball down the left hand side of the pitch over the Seminole defense. Laxgang ran in on the ball and one-timed a shot into the upper right corner for her fifth goal of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
The lead would hold until the 86th minute when Brynjarsdottir tied the match at 1-1 on her fourth goal of the season. Nickolette Driesse earned the assist on the play sending a cross into the box that was initially tipped by Clemson keeper Kailen Sheridan. Brynjarsdottir was on the receiving end of the loose ball, as she collected the ball, turned and fired with her left foot to find the back of the net. The goal marked the sixth time this year the Seminoles have scored after the 80th minute of play. Brynjarsdottir finished with a match-high five shots as four came in the second half including three on goal.
Neither team was able to put together much offensively in overtime as the only shot came from Clemson with nine seconds left in the second overtime. Jenna Polonsky's shot came off a corner but the Seminole defense blocked the shot as the game ended in a tie.
The tie extended Florida State's unbeaten streak in the series to 15 games (12-0-3).
Florida State finished the match out shooting Clemson 13-10, while the Seminoles held the edge in corners at 6-1.
Seminole keeper Kelsey Wys played the entire 110 minutes in goal making five saves on the afternoon. Sheridan finished with eight saves in 110 minutes for Clemson.
No. 4 UCLA 2, Arizona 1
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Fourth-ranked UCLA opened Pac-12 play with a 2-1 victory at Arizona on Sunday afternoon. Taylor Smith had a goal and an assist, and Sam Mewis scored the game-winner for the Bruins.
UCLA got off to another fast start, scoring at 4:45 on a goal by Smith, her second of the season. Smith took a pass from Ally Courtnall, made a crossover move on an Arizona defender to find space and sent a low shot far post to beat Arizona's Gabby Kaufman. The early goal marked the third consecutive game in which UCLA has scored in the first 10 minutes.
The Bruins threatened to score again in the 21st minute when Mewis' left-footed shot hit the post. A follow-up shot a few seconds later by Rosie White went wide past a diving Kaufman.
UCLA would not be denied in the 32nd minute. Smith set up the play with some slick moves down the right side and slotted a perfectly placed cross to Mewis in the box. Mewis one-timed Smith's cross for her third goal of the season.
Hannah Wong cut the Bruins' lead in half, getting one past an on-rushing Katelyn Rowland in the 38th minute after a nice feed from Jazmin Ponce, and UCLA took a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Kaufman came up big for Arizona in the second half. Right at the start of the period, White cracked a shot from the center circle that required a leaping save from the goalkeeper. Sarah Killion got a clean, hard look from outside the box in the 65th minute, but Kaufman made another leaping save to keep the Wildcats to within one. Kaufman also stopped a close shot from Mewis in the 71st minute.
The Wildcats had a good chance to tie in the 73rd minute when Jaden Degracie found herself all alone in the box, but her shot went straight to Rowland, who made the save. Arizona also had another chance late in the game but was called offsides.
UCLA outshot Arizona 19-7 and held a 12-1 advantage on corner kicks. Kaufman made seven saves for the Wildcats, while Rowland had two for the Bruins.
UCLA improved to 9-1. Arizona fell to 5-2-3 and 0-1 in conference play.
No. 5 Notre Dame 3, Pittsburgh 0
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- The fifth-ranked Irish defeated Pittsburgh 3-0 on Sunday at Notre Dame's Alumni Stadium. The Panthers were playing their third consecutive game against a top-10 team, as they fall to 4-7-1 and 0-6-0 in the ACC, while Notre Dame improves to 9-1-0 and 5-0-0 in conference play.
Notre Dame went up 1-0 in the 19th minute when Lauren Bohaboy scored on a rebound shot from two yards out. She received the ball after Cari Roccaro’s shot. That was all Notre Dame could produce in the first half as the Fighting Irish finished the period with 16 shots.
The Fighting Irish took a 2-0 lead just 49 seconds into the second half when Roccaro’s shot from 20 yards sailed under the crossbar and into the net. Roccaro received the ball after Rebecca Twining’s throw-in. Notre Dame then added an insurance goal in the 64th minute when Mandy Laddish scored on a low drive from the top of the box that hit inside the left post. Rocarro assisted on the play.
Notre Dame outshot Pitt 32-3 and finished with 13 shots on goal. Pitt had three opportunities to score including two shots from sophomore Roosa Arvas and a shot on goal from senior Dana DelleFemine.
Missouri 1, No. 7 Florida 0
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri got a goal from junior Kaysie Clark in the ninth minute and held to record a 1-0 upset of No. 7 Florida on Sunday afternoon at Walton Stadium. The win marked the Tigers' first win against a top-10 opponent since a 1-0 victory against No. 7 Ohio State on Aug. 26, 2011.
Missouri improved to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while Florida fell to 8-2-1 and 2-1.
The Gators finished the game with a 21-10 advantage in shots, including a 12-3 edge in the second half, but the Tiger defense held strong to post its fourth shutout of the season.
The Tigers were the aggressors offensively early and took advantage of their opportunities. In the ninth minute, senior Danielle Nottingham sent a cross into the box from the right corner. Clark ran onto the pass, took a touch and calmly struck a right-footed shot that flew into the lower left corner of the net for a 1-0 Mizzou lead. The tally was Clark's team-leading fifth of the season, while Nottingham recorded her fourth assist in just four games in 2013.
Just eight minutes later, senior Alyssa Diggs was taken down in the box by Florida's keeper to give Missouri a penalty kick. Nottingham stepped up for the chance and beat the goalie but her shot bounced off the right post to keep the score 1-0.
Florida came out firing in the second half as the Gators put continuous pressure on the Tiger defense. The visitor's best chances came in the 73rd and 74th minutes, when successive Gator shots clanged off the crossbar and post.
Mizzou packed its defensive box in the waning minutes as Florida took its last-ditch efforts to tally an equalizer. The Tigers defense stood strong for the 1-0 final score. Redshirt junior McKenzie Sauerwein made four saves in goal for the Tigers to post her third shutout of the season.
No. 8 Penn State 4, Indiana 1
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Eighth-ranked Penn State completed its perfect September record (8-0-0) on Sunday afternoon as it overpowered Indiana 4-1 at Jeffrey Field. Raquel Rodriguez, Tani Costa, Emily Hurd and Maya Hayes each netted goals for the Nittany Lions.
With the win, the Blue and White improve to 9-1-1 overall and 3-0-0 in Big Ten action. Penn State is now 21-1-1 all-time against the Hoosiers (8-2-1, 1-2-0).
Rodriguez started things off for the Nittany Lions for the second consecutive match, netting her third goal of the year in the seventh minute. Kori Chapic played a ball to Hurd, who crossed it to Rodriguez, who was able to head it in to give PSU a 1-0 lead.
IU tied it up at the 25:01 mark as Monica Melink notched her second goal of the season. The midfielder received the ball on a cross from Rebecca Candler and put it in from the far corner of the box.
Each team notched one more shot on goal in the first half but neither could get past the opposing keepers, leaving the score at 1-1 at the intermission.
The Nittany Lions came out strong in the second half, posting four shots in the first seven minutes. Costa found success on the fourth shot, burying the ball in the net from 12 yards ahead on a cross from Hurd.
Hurd added a goal of her own in the 60th minute as she blasted one in from the far corner of the 18-yard box to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.
Britt Eckerstrom collected a big save in the 62nd minute to keep the score at 3-1, stopping a Melink attempt that came on goal. The Hoosiers had two more clean looks in the game but Eckerstrom was up to the task, picking up saves on both. She finished the match with eight saves.
Hayes posted her 12th goal of the year and capped the scoring with seven minutes remaining in the game. Chapic dropped the ball to Hayes and the senior dribbled past an Indiana defender before firing the ball in from 12 yards deep. She has scored at least one goal in all but one game for the Blue and White this season.
No. 9 Wake Forest 1, Syracuse 0
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Riley Ridgik scored the eventual game winner in the 10th minute as No. 9 Wake Forest held Syracuse off the board to post a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y.
Wake Forest's win in the first meeting between the two teams moved the Deacons to 8-2-1 (3-2-1 ACC), while Syracuse dropped to 4-7-1 (0-5-1 ACC).
Ridgik headed home a Megan Curan cross for her sixth goal of the year, tying her for the team lead with Katie Stengel. Curan's assist was her first as a Demon Deacon after transferring from Gardner-Webb for the 2013 season.
Aubrey Bledsoe made three saves in net to earn her fifth shutout of the season and the 30th of her career.
The Demon Deacons outshot the Orange 8-5 and led 5-2 in corner kicks.
No. 10 Georgetown 7, Xavier 1
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Georgetown recorded a decisive 7-1 victory against visiting Xavier on Sunday afternoon. The loss dropped the Musketeers to 0-2 in the Big East Conference and 7-3-1 overall, while the Hoyas remained undefeated at 1-0-1 in the Big East and 9-0-2 overall.
Georgetown broke a scoreless tie in the 34th minute when Mary Kroening scored on a header. It began a 10-minute stretch of three goals for the Hoyas, including one at 35:38 from Jessica Clinton and a third at 42:18 by Vanessa Skrumbis. Georgetown led 3-0 at halftime.
The Hoyas extended their lead to 4-0 with a Marina Paul goal early in the second half at 49:21. XU avoided the shutout with a goal from sophomore Erin McGauley in the 57th minute, her second goal of the season. Senior Sydnee Fields earned her team-high tying fourth assist of the season on the play.
Georgetown racked up its final three goals in a little more than six minute-stretch from 66:07 to 72:11, with scores from Paul, Sarah Adams, and Kaitlin Brenn.
