Dec. 1, 2007

Florida State Headed Back To The College Cup With A 3-2 2OT Victory Over Connecticut

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State is headed back to the Women's College Cup for the third consecutive season and for the fourth time in five years defeating Connecticut 3-2 in double overtime Friday evening in front of a jammed back crowd of 1,703 at the Seminole Soccer Complex. Freshman Sanna Talonen capped off an incredible evening scoring the golden goal in the 104th minute for her third goal of the evening and second hat trick of the tournament.

The Seminoles fought back from a goal down twice in the match before Talonen capped off the come-from-behind victory with a diving header into the lower right corner to give Florida State its first overtime victory of the season. The win also kept the Seminoles perfect at home in the NCAA Tournament running their all-time record to 14-0-0.

The victory was the first over Connecticut in this the third meeting between the two teams. All three meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke Falls At Notre Dame, 3-2, In NCAA College Cup Quarterfinals

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - On a frigid evening in Notre Dame, Ind., the Duke women's soccer team battled 11th-ranked Notre Dame to the end, but fell, 3-2, at Alumni Field in the NCAA College Cup quarterfinals. The Blue Devils fell behind 2-0 but came back to even the match in the second half. An experienced Irish team received the game-winning goal in the 77th minute to advance to the NCAA College Cup semifinals.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate Notre Dame," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "We wish them the best of luck and go to the College Cup and win it all. They are a handful. They came out and really pressured us early in the match. We haven't seen that much pressure in a long time -- since we left Chapel Hill in the middle of October. We didn't handle it really well in the first half."

Duke concludes the season with a 10-6-7 record, while Notre Dame improves to 19-4-2. The Blue Devils and Irish had to face temperatures that dropped to 17 degrees at game time. Notre Dame moves on to face Florida State in the semifinals on Dec. 7.

"I am very proud of the heart and effort that our girls showed during the course of 90 minutes," said Church.