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.
Women’s volleyball
Stanford coach John Dunning reached career win No. 800, Madi Bugg recorded her 2,000th assist and the No. 5 Cardinal beat visiting Washington State, 25-14, 25-15, 26-24, in a Pac-12 match Friday.
Stanford (15-3 in the Pac-12, 22-5 overall) has two conference matches remaining, traveling to Tucson to meet Arizona on Wednesday and hosting California next Friday.
Dunning has won 363 matches since coming over from Pacific for the 2001 season and is 800-168 overall. The AVCA Hall of Famer became the fourth active Division I head coach in the NCAA to reach the 800-win plateau.
“I must be a lucky person. I never planned on being a coach,” Dunning said. “Somehow I ended up coaching in college and somehow I ended up here. I’ve gotten to work with amazing people and coach so many amazing athletes, some Olympians and some of the most dedicated people that you could ever find. More days now than ever before I just smile and think how lucky am I? I love doing it.”
The Cardinal had a .373 team hitting percentage, while holding the Cougars to .198.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Burgess led the team with 13 kills on a .414 attack percentage to go with eight digs and two blocks.
Senior Rachel Williams registered her ninth double-double of the year with 11 kills on 23 swings with just one error (.435) and 11 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Inky Ajanaku added nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while senior Carly Wopat finished with eight kills and four blocks. Sophomore Brittany Howard racked up 12 digs to go with five kills and two blocks.
Sophomore setter Madi Bugg notched her seventh double-double of the year with 43 assists and 11 digs, surpassing the 2,000 career assist mark in the process.
Junior libero Kyle Gilbert finished with 14 digs and registered her fourth kill of the season.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics