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NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament: Three Pac-12 teams advance to Round of 16

Nov 17, 2017

Six Pac-12 teams hit the pitch on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. Check this blog throughout the day to see how the Conference of Champions fared.

Washington State

Washington State 2, Tennessee 2 (WSU advances 3-1 on penalty kicks)

Washington State came into its matchup with Tennessee (15-4-1, 6-3-1 SEC) with arguably the Pac-12's biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament first round last weekend, shutting out No. 2 seed UCF in Orlando, Florida. The Cougs were back Florida, this time Gainesville, and struck first against the Volunteers. Forward Morgan Weaver notched her seventh goal of the year, sneaking a near post strike past UT's Shae Yanez in the 13th minute to put WSU up 1-0.

But then Danielle Marcano put the Volunteers are on her back. Marcano netted a pair of goals, converting on a header in the 19th minute for the equalizer before netting the go-ahead goal in the 29th minute. Things stayed that way until Kelsee Crenshaw drilled the equalizer in the 89th minute. The senior picked an opportune time for her first goal of the season and only her second as a Cougar.

After a pair of clean overtime periods, the WSU's season came down to penalty kicks. The teams converted each of their first penalty shots before Dederick shut down the Volunteers. Three straight saves closed out the second-round win. If you couldn't tell, the women from Pullman were more than a little excited to get to their first Sweet 16 in school history.

WSU advances to face No. 3-seeded Florida on Sunday.

Here's what head coach Todd Shulenberger said after the thrilling win:

"When we packed two weeks ago, I told the team we're coming here to win and we're coming here to stay. Pack your bags and we're going to go out on this journey."

UCLA

UCLA 1, Northwestern 0 (OT)

Behind a golden goal from Anika Rodriguez, UCLA broke a scoreless tie in the 93rd minute and propelled itself to a clutch win over Northwestern. Though neither team scored in regulation, momentum was clearly on the Bruins' side.

UCLA put relentless pressure on Northwestern before OT, outshooting the Wildcats 26-2. 

The Bruins now advance to face Virginia on Sunday in Los Angeles. 

Stanford

Stanford 2, Auburn 0

The Cardinal cruised to a win over visiting Auburn and notched a bit of program history as well. By scoring twice, Stanford now has 81 goals this season, a new program record. The 2009 Stanford team had 80 goals.

Though the game was scoreless at halftime, Stanford had most of the momentum. The Cardinal out-shot the Tigers 17-2 in the first half but couldn't find the back of the net. During the second half, Stanford took control. Kyra Carusa scored during the 58th minute on an assist from Alana Cook. Nine minutes later, Stanford doubled its lead. Catarina Macario notched her 16th goal of the season on an assist from Sam Tran. lison Jahansouz made two saves for her ninth shutout of the season

By the game's end, Stanford outshot Auburn, 31-2. Stanford advances to face Florida State this Sunday on The Farm. 

Arizona

Florida State 2, Arizona 0

The Seminoles scored in each half to dispatch Arizona from postseason competition Friday.

Fourth-seeded Florida State, which outshot the Wildcats 12-9, scored just before halftime in tthe 44th minute off a miffed clearance and again in the 79th minute on a free kick. Though it was a dissapointing result for the Wildcats, the team's seniors this year became the only group to qualify for three NCAA Tournaments during their time in Tucson.

USC

Baylor 1, USC 1 (Baylor advances 3-0 on penalty kicks)

The defending champions saw their opportunity for a repeat title fizzle on Friday during a neutral-site game at the campus of Texas A&M. Baylor notched a late goal, during the final minute of regulation, to send the match to overtime and take the momentum away from the Trojans. Both teams failed to break the 1-1 tie during the two overtime periods, pushing the match to penalty kicks and putting the Trojans' season on the line.

Baylor made the first, third and fourth PK attempts while USC couldn't notch a goal against BU goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt. 

The Trojans took the lead and appeared poised to advance during 71st minute when Leah Pruitt scored on a crafty header. Erika Okuma provided the clean assist to set up the goal. 

Colorado

North Carolina 1, Colorado 0

Colorado's impressive season came to a close in a hard-faught match at North Carolina. The Tar Heels outshot the Buffs, 19-11, and scored during the 26th minute in the game's first half. Erin Greening recorded a team-high three shots for Colorado.

Colorado goalkeeper Jalen Tompkins was impressive against the UNC attack, notching seven saves against one of the country's top teams. The Tar Heels entered the game averaging 2.3 goals per game. 

The Buffs finish the season at 12-6-4.