Nov. 15, 2009

Seven ACC Teams Reach Final 16 of NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship
North Carolina, Florida State and Boston College to host third-round matches

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A league-record seven Atlantic Coast Conference women’s soccer teams are among the Final 16 of the 2009 NCAA Division I Championship field after all posted second-round wins on Sunday.

Five nationally-seeded ACC teams – No. 1 North Carolina, No. 1 Florida State, No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 4 Maryland scored home-field wins, while No. 3 Virginia Tech and unseeded Virginia won on the road. The seven wins by the ACC teams came by a combined margin of 22-3.

UNC, Florida State and Boston College are now set to host third-round games on Friday and Saturday.

Virginia delivered perhaps the most remarkable victory on Sunday in defeating fourth-seeded host Penn State, 6-2. The Cavaliers trailed 2-0 at the half before scoring six unanswered second-half goals in a span of roughly 20 minutes. Virginia, which lost at Penn State, 1-0, in its season opener Aug. 21, is headed to the Round of 16 for the fifth straight season.

In other action Sunday, North Carolina blanked Georgia, 4-0; Florida State shut out California, 3-0; Boston College downed Connecticut, 2-0; Wake Forest shut out West Virginia 3-0; Maryland blanked Washington State, 1-0, and Virginia Tech scored a 3-1 win at Dayton.

The outcomes placed three ACC teams – North Carolina, Maryland and Wake Forest – in the third round of the North Carolina Regional. The Tar Heels (19-3-1) will play host to Maryland (14-5-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be the third meeting in less than three weeks between the teams. North Carolina slipped past the Terps, 1-0, in the regular-season finale Nov. 1 and won by a 3-0 score in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship.

The appearance in the Final 16 will be the 28th straight for North Carolina. Maryland is in the Final 16 for the first time since 2004, when it defeated No. 2 overall seed Penn State on the Nittany Lions’ home field.

Wake Forest (15-5-2), which reached the third round of the NCAAs for the first time since 1999, will travel to second-seeded South Carolina (19-3-2) for a 7 p.m. match on Friday.

Florida State (18-4-1) will also be a host team for the third round of its regional. The Seminoles, playing in the NCAA third round for the fifth straight year welcome Texas A&M (15-6-3) at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Boston College (17-3-2), seeded second in the Stanford Regional, will host Wisconsin (11-5-6), also Friday at 7 p.m. The Eagles are in the Final 16 for the fifth time in six years.

Both Virginia Tech (16-7) and Virginia (10-5-6) are headed west for UCLA Regional matches. The Cavaliers will face the top-seeded and host Bruins (17-2-1) on Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Virginia Tech will travel to Portland, also for a Friday game that will be played at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

UCLA and Portland have been ranked among the top five teams in the nation most of the season.

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Second Half Explosion Sends Cavaliers to Round of 16

The Virginia women’s soccer team had one of the biggest comeback victories in school history, scoring six unanswered goals in a 20 minute span of the second half to post a 6-2 win over No. 9 Penn State in a second round NCAA Tournament game Sunday at Jeffrey Field. The win sends the Cavaliers into the round of 16 for the fifth consecutive season.

In the first half, the Cavaliers had the better of play throughout the first 20 minutes, outshooting Penn State 6-1, but the Nittany Lions struck first in the 21st minute against the run of play. Katie Schoepfer found Jess Rosenbluth open on the wing and she fired in her first goal of the season. The goal ended Virginia’s shutout streak at 602:42, the fourth longest streak in school history. Penn State struck again in the 37th minute when Ali Schaefer tapped in Christine Nairn’s corner kick at the back post, to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Cavaliers opened the second half strong, pressuring the Penn State defense before breaking through in the 60th minute of play. Lauren Alwine (Elizabethtown, Pa.) collected the ball on the wing, made a move and curled a left-footed shot off the far post and in for her seventh goal of the season. The Cavaliers drew even five minutes later. Cailtin Miskel (Boca Raton, Fla.) found Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.) in the box, who turned a fired in her eighth goal of the season. In the 73rd minute, the Cavaliers took the lead when Erica Hollenberg (Fairfax Station, Va.) sent a ball to Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.), who curled a ball into the far upper corner for her fifth goal of the season. Two minutes after that, Farrelly placed a ball inside the 6-yard box for Hollenberg, who cut a shot inside the far post for her first career goal. Miller tallied her second goal of the game less than two minutes after that and Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.) capped the scoring with her seventh goal of the season in the 80th minute.

Hokies Hand Dayton First Loss in 3-1 Victory

DAYTON, Ohio – The No. 17 Hokies earned their second-ever NCAA Tournament victory as they defeated the No. 23 Dayton Flyers, 3-1, on their home field to advance to the Sweet 16. This is the first time the Hokies have defeated the Flyers and the furthest Tech has ever been in the Tournament as they continue on what has been their best season in program history. Junior forward Marika Gray tallied two scores in the match while freshman Kelly added a goal for the Hokies. Allison Giner was the lone goal-scorer for the Flyers.

Tech (16-7-0) was the first on the board for the second time this weekend as Gray sparked the Hokie offense once again. Gray, who scored the first goal early in the first half of the Murray State match, netted her second goal of the weekend as she took advantage of a Dayton (16-1-6) miscommunication and knocked a loose ball away from the Flyers’ keeper, tapping it into a wide-open net from the right side, just in front of the goal line.

North Carolina Advances To Sweet 16 With Win Over Georgia

Sophomore forward Courtney Jones scored the game-winner in the ninth minute and Tobin Heath, Meghan Klingenberg and Lucy Bronze went on to add insurance goals as the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship by blanking 25th-ranked Georgia before a crowd of 1,214 fans at Fetzer Field Sunday afternoon.

While the offensive numbers were the best in over a month for the Tar Heels, it was the Carolina defense which continued to shine on Sunday as it limited the Bulldogs to only five shots, none on goal. Led by goalie Ashlyn Harris and defenders Kristi Eveland, Whitney Engen and Rachel Givan, the Tar Heels have now posted seven successive shutouts and UNC has now earned clean sheets in 16 of 23 games this season while allowing only 10 goals in those 23 matches. Eveland reached a significant milestone Sunday, starting the 100th game of her career, while Engen started for the 99th time in a UNC uniform.

No. 4 Terps Top Washington State, 1-0

For the first time since 2004 the University of Maryland women's soccer team is in the Sweet 16 thanks to its 1-0 victory over Washington State Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field.

Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer scored her team-leading 10th goal of the season in the 33rd minute to give the No. 4-seeded Terps the 1-0 lead and the defense held the Cougars off the board for the remaining 57 minutes.

The game's lone goal came off of a corner kick sent in from the left side by junior Caitlin McDowell. The ball was sent to the far post where senior Megan Watson got on the end of it and headed it for the far post. The ball hit off of a Cougar defender and bounced back toward the middle of the Washington State six-yard box. Junior Molly Dreska redirected the ball and it found Spencer, a first team All-ACC selection this season, who finished it inside the near post.

No. 14 Wake Forest Advances to Third Round; Defeats West Virginia 3-0

The 14th-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team scored three goals in the first half and cruised to a 3-0 win against West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at Spry Stadium.

Wake Forest advances to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history and first since 1999. The Deacs will be on the road next weekend to face South Carolina in the third round. The Gamecocks defeated Rutgers 1-0 on Sunday. A time and date of the game will be announced Monday.

The Demon Deacons jumped on West Virginia early, scoring the only three goals of the game in the first 35 minutes of the match. Senior Jill Hutchinson gave Wake a lead with a goal in the 21st minute and junior Casey Luckhurst scored exactly 25 minutes into the game. Freshman Ally Berry closed the scoring with a goal in the 35th minute.

FSU Blanks Cal 3-0

Fifth-ranked Florida State (18-4-1) defeated California (11-9-1) 3-0 Sunday afternoon in front of a great crowd of over 900 at the Seminole Soccer Complex to advance into the Third Round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

FSU registered a pair of first half goals from sophomore forwards Jessica Price and Tiffany McCarty to give the Seminoles their 17th consecutive victory at home, while moving to 17-0-0 all-time in postseason games played inside the Seminole Soccer Complex.

Amanda DaCosta tied a career-high with two assists on Sunday, while Price scored for the third time in two NCAA Tournament games this year. For the second straight game, Price recorded the game-winner and now leads FSU with seven game-winning goals in 2009.

BC Women's Soccer Advances To Sweet 16 With Win Over UConn

Junior Natalie Crutchfield scored her first goal of the season to lead Boston College past Connecticut, 2-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in front of 600 fans at the Newton Soccer Field. The Eagles improved to 17-3-2 and will play Wisconsin on Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m. UConn ends its season at 11-8-2.

Crutchfield has just entered the game in the 30th minute for Brooke Knowlton. In the 32nd minute, Crutchfield ran onto a ball sent into the box by Amy Caldwell. The UConn goalkeeper Ally Mancino (six saves) came out to cut the angle down but Crutchfield one-timed a right-footed shot to the far post for a 1-0 BC lead.

The Eagles doubled the margin in the 68th minute of the match. Senior Gina DiMartino chipped the ball it into the open goal for her eight of the season. The goal was set up when Victoria DiMartino broke free between two defenders, on a through ball from Julia Bouchelle. DiMartino's shot was deflected by Mancino out of the box and Gina DiMartino gave the BC a 2-0 lead.