Stanford Moves On with OT Win
NCAA Tournament bracket
LOS ANGELES -- Taylor Uhl scored 1:29 into the first overtime to lift Stanford to a 1-0 victory over South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA women's soccer tournament Friday at UCLA's Drake Stadium.
The No. 17 Cardinal (15-5-1) advances to the round of 16 on Sunday at 4 p.m. on the same field against No. 2 UCLA (19-1-2), a 3-0 winner over Kentucky.
The scoring sequence began when a Stanford crossing pass was unable to be cleared, falling to the feet of Chioma Ubogagu at the top of the penalty area. Her shot was slightly deflected, throwing off goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, and was redirected into the goal by Uhl from close range, just inside the post.
This was Stanford’s seventh overtime match, and the Cardinal came into the extra period confident, Ubogagu said.
“This team fights,” she said. “We’ll always try to find a way.”
In the team huddle before overtime, Stanford players talked about “being smart,” and avoiding a replay of the regular-season finale loss to Cal, which beat Stanford 1-0 on an overtime counterattack despite being outplayed.
“We came into the season with two goals, to win the Pac-12 title and the national championship,” Ubogagu said. “We didn’t get the first one, but we can still get the second. We told ourselves before the playoffs that ‘the new season starts now. Everyone has a clean slate. Everyone needs to focus on winning a championship.’”
Stanford is attempting to reach its sixth consecutive NCAA College Cup. It already has advanced to the third round for the eighth consecutive season.
Uhl’s goal was her 12th of the season, allowing her to take over the Pac-12 Conference goal-scoring lead. Both of Stanford's victories in the tournament have been by 1-0 scores, and both goals have been scored by Uhl, the junior transfer from Minnesota.
Freshman goalkeeper Jane Campbell faced six shots (to Stanford's nine) and needed to make only one save against the No. 14 Gamecocks (17-4-2) while earning her sixth shutout.
D’Angelo, the Southeastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, made a superb save of an Ubogagu chip, and got help from the crossbar to stop Natalie Griffen’s shot in the 80th minute.
The result recalled the only previous meeting between the schools, when Stanford beat the Gamecocks, 2-0, in the second round of the 2011 NCAA tournament.
Stanford has a long rivalry with UCLA, the Pac-12 champion. The teams have combined to win the past 13 Pac-12 titles, and will be meeting in the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five years. Stanford eliminated the Bruins in each of the previous three meetings, including a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals last year. However, this will be their first playoff at UCLA.
This season, visiting UCLA earned a 2-1 double-overtime victory on Oct. 10 over the Cardinal to halt a seven-match losing streak in the series.