STANFORD, Calif. – The Florida soccer team saw its season end at Stanford Friday on a penalty kick decision in front of sell-out crowd of 1,900 at the Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
Florida and Staford played to a 2-2 double overtime tie, forcing penalty kicks to determine which team would advance to the NCAA College Cup. A 4-3 penalty kick advantage sends the Cardinal to their sixth NCAA College Cup of the last seven season (2008, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’14).
Stanford now advances to play Florida State in NCAA semifinal action next Friday at the FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida
FSU advances with a 5-0 win over South Carolina Friday afternoon in Tallahassee.
Florida State was the 2013 NCAA runner-up with a 1-0 overtime loss to UCLA. The Bruins will not be back to defend their 2013 NCAA title, falling 2-1 to Virginia Friday in Los Angeles.
In Friday’s NCAA Quarterfinal action, Stanford struck quickly in the fourth minute when Chioma Ubogagu put a cross across the face of the goal. Fellow senior Taylor Uhl put the ball in at the far post from a short distance to give the Cardinal the early lead.
The match was evened up in the 10th minute when Annie Speese took a free kick about 15 yards above the box. An attempt to clear the ball slipped backwards off a Cardinal player to the far corner of the goal.
In the second half, the teams traded goals off of corner kicks in just over a four-minute span. In the 75th minute, Kendall Romine gave Stanford a 2-1 leads when she headed in the Andi Sullivan corner kick.
Then in the 79th minute, Speese’s corner kick was touched in at the near post by fellow senior Havana Solaun to tie the match.
After two scoreless overtime periods, the match moved to penalty kicks to determine the advancing team. Florida’s first two shooters missed and Stanford owned a 2-0 lead after the first two rounds of penalty kicks.
The third Cardinal shooter missed and the final three Gators successfully converted their PKs, but Stanford’s final two players were successful to take the advancing spot.
GATOR NOTEBOOK: Solaun scored her fifth goal of the last seven matches and has turned in at least a point in each match during that span. It was the 30th goal of her career, moving her into sole possession of 10th on Florida’s Career Goals Leaders list. Florida goalkeeper Taylor Burke equaled her career-high with eight saves Friday. Among the eight were several key saves. In the 34th minute, Lo'eau LaBonta took a hard 14-yard shot, but Burke made a diving deflection to keep the ball out of the goal. With just over two minutes, remaining in the second overtime, Burke made a one-handed save to keep Uhl’s shot out of the net.