UCLA prevails, USC loses in NCAA women’s soccer quarterfinals
UCLA advanced to the College Cup for the 11th time in school history after defeating Florida State 4-0 in the NCAA quarterfinals Friday in Tallahassee, Fla. Redshirt senior Chloe Castaneda and freshman Mia Fishel each scored two goals to send the Bruins through to the semifinals.
UCLA (18-4-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes thanks to a pair of goals from Castaneda, who scored her first goal at 7:03. After Castaneda’s initial shot was blocked, Fishel popped it back to her, wide open in front of goal. Castaneda easily sent it into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season.
She scored her second goal at 17:08 after receiving a perfect diagonal pass from Anika Rodriguez. Castaneda made a move to get free on the outside of her defender, and fired with her left past Florida State goalkeeper Caroline Jeffers for her second score of the afternoon.
UCLA’s record might not show it, but those on the inside feel that the Bruins are on an upward trajectory after Chip Kelly’s second season in Westwood.
Fishel continued her hot streak in the postseason, following up on her shot that was saved but not controlled by Jeffers and recording her 13th goal of the year and fourth goal in her last three games to give UCLA a 3-0 lead at 31:11. Fishel scored her second goal of the game at 53:43, heading in a Viviana Villacorta corner kick to increase UCLA’s lead to 4-0.
The Bruins had all the answers defensively, blocking attempts of any dangerous balls that came their way and limiting the Seminoles to seven shots, two of which were saved by UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah, who picked up her 10th shutout of the season.
UCLA and Stanford — which won 5-1 over visiting Brigham Young on Friday — face off in the national semifinals next Friday in San Jose.
Tar Heels beat USC
The North Carolina women’s soccer team topped USC in an NCAA tournament regional final 3-2 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (22-1-1) will face Washington State in a national semifinal next Friday in San Jose. Washington State was a 1-0 winner over South Carolina on Friday.
Against USC (17-4-1), North Carolina broke a 2-2 tie at the 68:05 mark on a goal by Maycee Bell, assisted by Lotte Wubben.
USC got the first goal of the game when Penelope Hocking scored on assists from Tara McKeown and Jalen Woodward.
USC lost 101-79 to Marquette in the semifinals of the Orlando Invitational as Golden Eagles star guard Markus Howard scored 51 points.
The Tar Heels tied it up before halftime on an unassisted goal by Emily Fox.
In the second half, a Brianna Pinto goal that gave North Carolina a 2-1 lead was quickly answered by a USC goal by Natalie Jacobs.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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