REDHAWKS KNOCK OFF COUGARS IN NCAA FIRST ROUND
Seattle University women’s soccer played Washington State through regulation and into a second of two overtimes before Natasha Howe drove in the game winner to advance the Redhawks, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In the 108th minute, Howe dribbled past a pair of defenders and beat the goalkeeper in the far post for the unassisted game-winner. The Redhawks struck first in the 33rd minute as Stephanie Verdoia dribbled past a defender and beat the WSU keeper from eight yards out to give SU a 1-0 lead through halftime.
With just over 10 minutes left in regulation, in the 80th minute, Beau Bremer crossed the ball in to Mariah Powers who tied the game, 1-1, which would ultimately send the match into overtime. Verdoia led Seattle U with four shots, two on goal as SU outshot WSU, 12-10. In goal, Brianna Smallidge made five saves in the complete game victory while Gurveen Clair made three saves in the complete game loss.
The match marks the first ever win for the Redhawks in the NCAA Tournament as well as the first victory over the Cougars all-time.
SEATTLE U WINS SECOND STRAIGHT WAC TITLE
SEATTLE - The flood gates opened up early in the second half as the Seattle U Redhawks won the 2014 WAC Women’s Soccer Tournament with a 5-0 win over the Missouri-Kansas City Redhawks on Sunday afternoon on Championship Field.
After Julia Moravec gave Seattle U a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, she scored again in the 52nd minute and the Redhawks would scored three more goals over the next 10 minutes as UMKC saw a record-breaking season come to an end in Seattle.
Match #4: Missouri-Kansas City 1, Utah Valley 0
SEATTLE - Missouri-Kansas City’s Taylor Andrzejewksi found an opportune time to score her first goal of the season as the Kangaroos earned a 1-0 over the Utah Valley Wolverines on Friday night at Championship Field in Seattle.
Both goalkeepers starred under the lights as Utah Valley’s Jessica Duffin made eight saves and Missouri-Kansas City’s Tina Tzianos earned a shutout with three saves but it was Andrzejweski who put her name on the scoresheet, taking a pass from Kara Priest in the 54th minute to send her team to the conference title game.
Match #3: Seattle U 7, New Mexico State 0
SEATTLE - Scoring seven goals from seven different players, the top-seeded Seattle U Redhawks made easy work of the New Mexico State Aggies, using a 7-0 win to advance to the 2014 WAC Tournament Championship Game.
The Redhawks opened up the scoring in the third minute on a score by Natasha Howe and by the end of the period, Seattle U found themselves up 5-0. Two more goals in the second half propelled the Redhawks into the tournament final, where they will look for a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Match #2: Utah Valley 2, Texas-Pan American 1 (OT)
SEATTLE - Sixth-seed Texas-Pan American pushed the third-seeded Utah Valley Wolverines to overtime but it was UVU’s Kim Stratford who rose to hero status, scoring in the 97th minute to send Utah Valley to the semifinal round of the 2014 WAC Women’s Soccer Tournament on Thursday at Championship Field in Seattle.
After a scoreless first half, UVU got on the board in the 75th minute as Lexi Robison scored her first goal of the season from near point blank to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. UTPA answered back just over four minutes later as Andreya Barrera scored the first postseason goal in Bronc history as the first-year program forced extra time.
In overtime, Tori Smith put in a shot that was saved by UTPA’s Erica Gonzalez but Stratford was their for the rebound, putting in her sixth goal of the season for the game-winner.
Match #1: New Mexico State 3, Bakersfield 0
SEATTLE - Led by a brace from senior forward Layla Todd and a shutout from junior keeper Taylor Rice, the fifth-seeded New Mexico State Aggies scored the first upset of the 2014 WAC Women’s Soccer Tournament, upsetting the fourth-seeded Bakersfield Roadrunners on Thursday evening at Championships Field in Seattle.
Todd opened up the scoring the 23rd mintue, taking a ball from Katie Smith at the top of the box and firing a shot past Bakersfield keeper Tori Ornela.
The Aggies spent much of the second half on the defensive unitl the 80th minute as Jennae Cambra scored her team-best 14th goal of the season to give NMSU a 2-0 advantage. Todd added the final dagger in the 85th minute, chipping a ball over Ornela for the 3-0 win
WAC STAT LEADERS
Among team leaders, co-champions Seattle U and Missouri-Kansas City finished the regular season leading many of the categories. Seattle U is tops in points per game (8.44), goals per game (3.00), and assists per game (2.44) while Missouri-Kansas City leads in shots per game (17.53), goals allowed (0.74) and goals-against average (0.70). Chicago State finished their inaugural season leading the WAC in saves per game (11.00) while Utah Valley holds the conference lead in shutouts at nine.
Individually, Seattle U’s Stephanie Verdoia leads the conference in shots per game (5.11), points per game (2.72), goals per game (1.06), assists per game (0.61) and game-winning goals (6). Missouri-Kansas City keeper Nina Tzianos is tops in goals against average (0.65) and save percentage (0.882). Bakersfield’s Tori Ornela holds the lead in saves (5.42), Chicago State’s Carrie Hepp leads in saves per game (7.69) and Utah Valley’s Jessica Duffin leads the conference in shutouts (9).