No. 1 Virginia 6, Maryland 1
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Top-ranked Virginia posted its first 20-win season in school history as it downed Maryland 6-1 in an ACC tournament quarterfinal Sunday in front of 2,349 fans at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers (20-0) advance to meet Virginia Tech in Friday’s ACC semifinals in Cary, N.C., while the Terrapins (10-10) were eliminated from their final ACC tournament.
Junior midfielder Morgan Brian led the Cavaliers with two goals and an assist on the afternoon. Senior forward Amber Fry and junior forward Mary Morgan each had a goal and an assist. Junior midfielder Danielle Colaprico and first-year forward Morgan Reuther also added goals, while senior midfielder Annie Steinlage and sophomore forward Brittany Ratcliffe each recorded a pair of assists.
The Terrapins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the fifth minute. Hayley Brock chased down a ball on the flank and crossed a ball that curled just inside the far post for her 12th goal of the season. It marked the first time the Cavaliers had trailed in a game since Sept. 26 (at Duke) and ended Virginia’s shutout streak at 573:42, the fifth-longest streak in school history.
“I thought our response to going down was terrific,” head coach Steve Swanson said. “We were patient and stuck to the game plan. Annie played a great ball to Morgan on the first goal. We were able to keep the pressure on them as that half wore down and were able to get a few more goals.”
Overall, Virginia outshot Maryland 24-5 and had an 8-3 corner kick advantage. First-year goalkeeper Morgan Stearns made one save during the first 77 minutes before Churchill O’Connell came on for the final 13 minutes, recording one save as well. Rachelle Beanlands made one save in goal for Maryland in the first half before Kristene Mumby made four saves in the second half.
No. 2 UCLA 2, Oregon 0
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA won its 11th conference championship and first since 2008 after a 2-0 victory against Oregon on Sunday. The second-ranked Bruins improved to 16-1-2 overall and 8-0-2 in the conference with one game remaining in the regular season. Oregon dropped to 4-11-3 and 2-7-1 in the Pac-12.
The Bruins actually had the conference title sewn up just before kickoff after both second-place Stanford and third-place Utah lost, but that did not prevent the Bruins from doing what they needed to win the crown themselves. After a scoreless first half, the Bruin offense, particularly sophomore forwards Taylor Smith and Kodi Lavrusky, found the back of the net to give UCLA the shutout win.
Smith nabbed the game-winning goal at 60:40 with a shot in the box to the right post. Darian Jenkins' shot was blocked but found its way to Gabbi Miranda, who backheeled a pass off an Oregon defender right to Smith. Smith one-timed the shot past Oregon goalkeeper Abby Steele for her fourth goal of the year.
Abby Dahlkemper set up the Bruins' second goal at 80:22, sending a long pass across the field to Miranda on the left side. Miranda got ahead of the defense, crossed into the box. Chelsea Stewart was rushing in on the left side, and Steele came off her line to defend, but the ball skipped past both, and Lavrusky streaked in to clean up and net her fourth goal of the season.
As the seconds ticked down, the Bruin bench doused first-year head coach Amanda Cromwell with a celebratory Powerade bath.
"It's really exciting," Cromwell said about winning the conference championship. "The team is an awesome group of girls who have worked so hard. It was one of the goals of the season, and they went about their way very dedicated and determined to achieve the Pac-12 Championship."
Katelyn Rowland recorded the shutout in goal for the Bruins, making three saves. She now has 10 shutouts this year and has lowered her goals-against average to 0.32. UCLA as a team has a 0.31 goals-against average.
No. 3 Florida State 2, Duke 0
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A pair of second-half goals just a minute and 30 seconds apart was all that was needed on Sunday afternoon as second-seeded Florida State (16-1-3) defeated seventh-seeded Duke (8-8-4) 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
The Seminoles advanced to their 10th ACC tournament semifinal appearance with the win, where they will face third-seeded North Carolina on Friday. The Tar Heels were 1-0 winners against Boston College.
“I thought it was a good, solid performance,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “In the first half we came out and played into a very strong wind and I thought our kids did a pretty good job of limiting the opportunities by Duke."
With the win, Florida State extended its school-record home unbeaten streak to 31 games (30-0-1), while moving to 12-0-1 inside the Seminole Soccer Complex in 2013.
After both teams could not find the back of the net in the first half combining to take just six shots, Florida State broke through with the game’s first goal in the 52nd minute when Megan Campbell was dragged down in the penalty box by Natasha Anasi leading to a penalty kick chance. Isabella Schmid took the kick and successfully converted the opportunity for her first goal of the season to give the Seminoles a 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, FSU extended its lead to 2-0 on a great left-footed blast by Kristin Grubka. She ran in on the loose ball from about 15 yards out following a corner kick by Michaela Hahn and drilled the ball into the upper left corner of the net for her second goal of season as both have come against the Blue Devils.
Redshirt senior keeper Kelsey Wys made an outstanding kick save during the early moments of the second half to shift the momentum in favor of the Seminoles. She found herself in a one-on-one situation against Duke’s Kara Wilson, who received a pass from Toni Payne. Wilson tried to beat Wys with a ball to the right post, but the Seminole keeper was there with a save to keep the game scoreless.
The two-goal lead would be more than enough for the Seminole defense, which posted its 11th shutout of the season. Wys finished the afternoon with two saves and in the process became Florida State’s all-time wins leader with four in the ACC tournament.
With the win, Florida State improved to 13-15-6 all-time in the ACC tournament and 2-1-0 in games played in Tallahassee. The Seminoles have now advanced out of the first round of the tournament for the seventh time in the past nine years and are now 9-7-3 all-time.
Florida State and North Carolina are no strangers to playing against each other in the ACC tournament as the two schools will meet for the 12th time overall and sixth time in the semifinals. The Seminoles have won three in a row against the Tar Heels including a quarterfinal victory against UNC in Chapel Hill in 2011.
No. 4 North Carolina 1, Boston College 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Crystal Dunn’s goal on a header in the 40th minute lifted third-seeded North Carolina to a 1-0 victory against sixth-seeded Boston College on Sunday afternoon in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at Fetzer Field.
Both teams had excellent offensive chances in the game but the goalkeepers for both teams ended with career highs for saves to keep the game a low-scoring affair. In the end, UNC was able to convert the one chance that mattered to improve to 17-3 on the season. Boston College falls to 10-9-1 at the end of the regular season but the Eagles are expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament even with the loss.
The victory propels Carolina into the ACC semifinals next Friday. The Tar Heels will meet second-seeded Florida State, which eliminated seventh-seeded Duke 2-0 Sunday afternoon.
Carolina, ranked fourth nationally, has won 20 of the previous 25 ACC tournaments but had not won a game in tournament play since beating Virginia Tech 4-2 in the ACC tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 3, 2010 in Cary, N.C.
Carolina outshot the Eagles 21-8 on Sunday and had a 10-2 edge in corner kicks. BC goalkeeper Alex Johnson made a career-high 10 saves for the Eagles while Carolina goalkeeper Anna Sieloff matched her career high with five saves. She previously had five saves in a match versus Stanford on Aug. 27, 2010.
UNC earned a corner kick in the 40th minute and Alexa Newfield’s well-placed ball from the right side found the head of Megan Brigman at the far post. Brigman’s shot went off the cross bar but Dunn was unmarked just a yard away from the goal line and headed it just far enough over the line to break the plane before Johnson gobbled it up. The goal, her 13th of the season, came at 39:10 of the match.
Carolina improved to 59-2-4 in tournament play with the victory.
No. 5 Virginia Tech 2, No. 19 Notre Dame 1, OT
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Senior forward Jazmine Reeves’ header with 1:13 left in the second overtime period gave fourth-seeded Virginia Tech a 2-1 victory against the fifth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Field.
It was Notre Dame who struck first in the 28th minute. Morgan Andrews played Kaleigh Olmsted toward the corner with a long pass from the midfield and Olmsted put a cross into the box from the left corner. Lauren Bohaboy, Notre Dame’s leading scorer entering the match, slipped her defender and nodded a shot past Hokie goalkeeper Dayle Colpitts to give the Irish the 1-0 lead.
At the break, Tech held a slight 9-8 edge in shots and had managed just two corners to Notre Dame’s zero.
Junior Shannon Mayrose opened the second period with multiple chances, racking up three shots in the opening nine minutes, but the Hokies did not equalize until the 57th minute.
After a foul in the midfield, defender Jodie Zelenky played in a long ball that freshman Candace Cephers latched onto amid heavy traffic in the box. She then won possession and calmly poked home her first collegiate goal from six yards to level the match at 1-1.
In the final 33 minutes of the match following the red card to Irish defender Elizabeth Tucker, Tech racked up 13 shots while holding the Irish without a single attempt. Nonetheless, the Notre Dame backline maintained the stalemate until the 109th minute.
The Hokies earned a pair of back-to-back corner kicks Reeves made the second of the two count. She beat her defender to the near post and got her head to Kelsey Loupee’s corner kick, pushing a shot past Irish goalkeeper Kaela Little and sealing the 2-1 victory for Tech.
The goal was Reeves’ eighth of the year, tied for the team lead with Tiernan and sophomore Ashley Meier, and her first since a 2-0 victory at Maryland on Sept. 19. Loupee’s assist was her team-leading seventh of the year.
Senior goalkeeper Dayle Colpitts recorded six saves for the Hokies on the day, while Little tallied eight for Notre Dame in the loss.
Tech is now 3-0-2 in overtime matches this season and, with 15 victories in 2013, is just one win shy of the program record for the most in a single season.
The victory, Tech’s first in the ACC tournament since 2009, moves the Hokies into the ACC semifinals, where they will meet top-seeded Virginia on Friday.
Washington State 1, No. 6 Stanford 0
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Junior Jocelyn Jeffers scored in the second half and host Washington State knocked off No. 7 Stanford 1-0 in Pac-12 play on Sunday at Lower Soccer Field.
With the victory and Utah’s loss to Arizona State, the Cougars (13-3-3, 6-3-1 Pac-12) moved into second place in the conference standings. The Cardinal (13-4-1, 6-4-0), which saw its 42-match road unbeaten streak and 26-match Pac-12 road winning streak end, dropped to third place, one point behind Washington State and one ahead of the Utes.
“This is a fantastic win for our team, our seniors and our program,” Cougar head coach Keidane McAlpine said. “I told our team that we did not play our best game, but we played well enough to be one goal better than our opponent and that’s what matters at this time of year.”
The Cougars defeated Stanford for the first time since 2003 to break a nine-match winless streak and eight-match losing streak against the Cardinal. The victory also snapped a nine-match winless streak at home against the Cardinal that dated back to 1993. Coupled with Friday’s win against No. 21 California, the Cougars defeated nationally ranked opponents in back-to-back matches for the first time since 2004 (No. 8 UCLA/No. 22 USC).
The goal by Jeffers came at 57:51 and was her fourth of the season. Sophomore Kourtney Guetlein started the play with a throw-in and junior Nicole Setterlund got a touch on the ball before Jeffers found a spot just inside the near post from the right edge of the box.
No. 9 Santa Clara 9, Pepperdine 2
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- In the final home match of the regular season for No. 9 Santa Clara, the Broncos rallied in the second half to beat Pepperdine 9-2. The Broncos now hold a record of 13-3-1 (7-0-0 WCC) and the Waves stand at 9-7-2 (4-4-0 WCC). Santa Clara heads into the final weekend of the regular season alone in first place in the WCC.
On the Broncos' senior day, the Broncos led the match in shots 22-11 and shots on goal 14-7. Santa Clara's seniors Morgan Marlborough, Julie Johnston and Alyson Birgel put up goals for the Broncos with Marlborough collecting a hat trick, Johnston with a pair and Birgel with an shot from 25 yards out. Junior Sofia Huerta and freshman Jordan Jesolva picked up a goal a piece in the second half.
"I thought the seniors were awesome tonight," head coach Jerry Smith said. "To have all of our seniors on the second half was no coincidence to how we played. To go down 2-0 to a good team like Pepperdine, you start to have a lot of thoughts going through your head but I thought the second half we were hitting on all cylinders which feels good at the end of the season, feels good when you can do that on senior day and I think our seniors clearly led the way for us today."
