Hofstra, W&M Advance in NCAA Championship
Kelly McCarthy
Hofstra and William & Mary both advanced to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship on penalty kicks on Saturday night. The Pride and the Tribe will join UNCW in the next round, marking the first time since 2008 in which three CAA teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship.
All second round games will be held on Friday, November 20. Hofstra will travel to No. 2 seed Rutgers, looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to the Scarlet Knights earlier in the season. William & Mary will return to the Sunshine State to take on No. 2 seed Florida. UNCW heads top-ranked Virginia in a rematch of a contest held earlier this season.
HOFSTRA 2, GEORGETOWN 2 (Hofstra Advances PKs 4-1) | Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Freshman Madeline Anderson and senior Leah Galton scored Pride goals and Hofstra substitute goalie Ashley Wilson made a key save in the penalty kicks round as Hofstra and Georgetown played to a 2-2 tie in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship at Shaw Field.
The Pride (13-5-2) advanced to next week's second round by topping the Hoyas, 4-2 in the penalty kicks round after 20 minutes of sudden-victory overtime couldn't decide a victor. Hofstra will advance to the NCAA Championship second round for the third time in school history and will square off against Rutgers, a 1-0 winner over Fairleigh Dickinson, in their first round contest.
After a scoreless first half which saw the Hoyas hold a slight ball possession advantage while Hofstra had the scoring opportunity advantage, the second half was a flurry of scoring. Anderson opened the scoring at the 46:40 mark following a corner kick as senior Jeannine Molleda sent a short pass in the box to Anderson who drilled a shot past senior goalie Emma Nevins.
The Hoyas did tie the contest, 1-1, at the 54:51 on a goal by graduate-student Melissa Downey. The Pride regained the lead at the 77:05 mark on a penalty kick when Galton was taken down in the box. The three-time CAA Player of the Year converted the penalty kick with a high shot to the left corner to give Hofstra a 2-1 advantage. It was Galton's 12th goal of the season.
Grace Damaska, who had five shots on the day and several scoring opportunities, finally found the back of the net at the 83:51 mark on a fine ball from senior Chrystal Thomas to tie the contest at 2-2 and eventually send the contest into overtime. Neither team was able to find the back of the net after two overtime periods and the game was decided on penalty kicks.
In the penalty kicks round, Rachel Carboz and Meghan Shaver scored for Georgetown while Molleda and Chloe Dale scored for Hofstra in the first two rounds. In round three, Damaska's shot was deflected by Wilson, who entered the contest for the penalty kicks, bounced off the post and went wide. Emily Agudelo then scored for Hofstra giving the Pride a 3-2 advantage. Sophomore Leah McCullough took the fourth shot for the Hoyas and shot high over the net. Pride sophomore Kristin Desmond then converted the Hofstra kick to send them to the second round against Rutgers.
WILLIAM & MARY 0, UCF 0 (William & Mary Advances PKs 3-1) | Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. - William & Mary battled UCF to a scoreless draw, but advanced to the Second Round NCAA College Cup with a 3-1 victory in the penalty kick shootout. The match will results in a tie, puts the Tribe record at 14-4-3, while the Knights end the season at 12-6-2.
UCF had the first chance of the night when Courtney O'Connell had a shot in the sixth minute. Her shot sailed wide right away from the goal. The Knights had another chance in the 13th minute when Hannah DeBose sent a header on that bounced wide of the frame. William & Mary's first chance of the match came off of a corner kick in the 16th minute. The Tribe’s Nicole Baxter sent the corner in and found the head of classmate Katie Johnston. The senior's redirected header was saved by Vera Varis. The remainder of the first half continued as a back-and-forth affair. Both teams finished the first stanza with five shots apiece, and both teams had a shot on-goal.
W&M had the first the two chances of the second half. Sophomore Sami Grasso fired a shot in the 49th minute that was high. On a corner kick moments later, Baxter found junior Clara Logsdon, but Logsdon's shot was blocked and cleared to safety. The Knights nearly took the lead a 1-0 off of a corner kick, but the Tribe made a team save.
At the end of regulation the teams remained scoreless, but UCF held a slight 12-11 advantage in shots, which also included a 4-3 advantage in shots on-goal. The Tribe had the first chance of the overtime period. Sophomore Rachel Moore turned a shot on target, but her shot was blocked by a Knight defender and cleared away. W&M's second chance in the first overtime came in the 96th minute, senior Leci Irvin had her shot saved by Vera. UCF had two first overtime chances , but were both off of frame. Saga Fredrikson pushed a shot wide, before Kayla Admeck had her shot blocked.
The Green and Gold was the most aggressive team in the second overtime and had a number of chances to win the match. The first came off of a corner kick that Johnston's header was blocked on. In the 108th minute, Irvin turned a shot on frame, before Grasso did the same thing, but both shots ended in Versa saves. With the match scoreless at the end of two overtimes, the match went to a best-of-penalty shootout. The Tribe won the match by converting three of its four penalty kicks, while Casey made two stops in goal on UCF PKs.
The Tribe finished the night with 17-15 advantage in shots, which included a 6-4 advantage in shots on-goal. Johnston fired a team-high four shots, while Irvin finished the match with three shots.
Casey finished the night with four saves, and recorded her 11th clean sheet of the season. It was her 30th career shutout, which moves into her to third place by herself all-time in that category. She has now recorded 296 career stops, which rank her second all-time, and is four saves away from become just the second player in school history to record 300 career saves.