Ranked opponents proved to be difficult competition during the season for Washington State, but the postseason has been a completely different story though as the Cougars are in the midst of a historic run that has them in the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
After a tournament-opening win against against 14th ranked Memphis in the first round that was their best victory of the season, the run continued on the other side of the nation last weekend. They stunned third ranked site host Virginia 3-2 in a thriller on Friday and then dominated West Virginia two days later to set up a Sweet 16 showdown with fifth ranked South Carolina back on the East Coast.
Several other teams are also still in the hunt for glory.
The University of Washington men took care of business in their Second Round tournament opener to reach the Third Round.
The Western Washington women won their first two games down and California and thanks to a little fortune elsewhere now get to host the next two rounds in the NCAA DII Tournament for a shot at the Final Four.
In the NAIA, the Cascade Conference duo of Eastern Oregon and Rocky Mountain both posted big results in the opening rounds of the national tournament, earning berths in the Sweet 16 at the Championship site in Alabama.
-- For games through Sunday, November 24 --
NCAA DI TOURNAMENT - NCAA BRACKET [+]
Second Round Matches
11.22 - Santa Clara 3-1 Oklahoma State (at USC)... Kelcie Hedge (Post Falls, ID) set up Kelsey Turnbow (Spokane, WA) for the opening goal in the 20th minute and the Broncos doubled the advantage less than a minute later. Hedge set up another goal in the 54th to push the lead to three as they cruised to the win against the 13th ranked Cowgirls.
11.22 - Washington 0-2 South Florida (at Florida State)... The 'secondary' hosts got on the board in the 25th and added some insurance in the 51st, bringing the season to a close for Summer Yates (Kennewick, WA)
11.22 - Washington State 3-2 Virginia (1)... The Cougars posted the biggest upset / victory in program history of tournament play. Averie Collins (Bozeman, MT) kicked things off 13 minutes in via Makamae Gomera-Stevens with a shot that glanced off a defender, but the third ranked hosts answered six minutes later to even it up. Brianna Alger and Elyse Bennett combined to set up Morgan Weaver in the 31st to give the Cougs the lead going into the break. The Cavaliers tied it up once more in the 53rd and the two remained in a stalemate until Weaver turned provider in the 82nd, finding MacKenzie Frimpong-Ellertson for the game-winner, marking the first time a team scored three goals against the Cavaliers this season and a trip to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in program history.
Third Round Matches
11.24 - Washington State 3-0 West Virginia (at Virginia)... Familiar names was the order of the day as the Cougars booked their first ever Elite Eight appearance. Gomera-Stevens scored 14 minutes in when she forced a centerback misplay and reached out to knock the ball past the keeper, but WSU was unable to pull away until midway through the second half when Weaver struck twice in seven minutes. Kelis Barton found her for the first in the 64th and Katie Jones on the second in the 71st.
11.24 - Santa Clara 0-1 (2) USC (at USC)... A second chance on a corner in the 41st minute was the lone opportunity the ninth ranked Trojans needed to end the season for the Broncos.
Quarterfinal Match
11.29 - Washington State @ South Carolina (2) 3:00
WOMEN - GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
NCAA DII TOURNAMENT
First Round
11.22 - (3) Western Washington 1-0 CSU Stanislaus (6) (at Sonoma St)... Despite outshooting the California side in their home state 11-2 in the first half, it was not until the 63rd minute that the Vikings broke through for the game-winner.
Second Round
11.24 - (3) Western Washington 1-0 Cal State LA (7) (at Sonoma St)... Facing a tough side that upset the second seed hosts, the match went into extra time despite a 19-4 advantage in shots before the Vikings finally found the winner to advance to the next stage of the tournament for the fifth consecutive season.
West Region Championship (Sweet Sixteen) - at Western Washington
12.5 - (5) Point Loma @ Western Washington (3) 6:00
South Central Region Championship (Sweet Sixteen) - at Western Washington
12.5 - (2) Dallas Baptist v Dixie State (5) 3:00
NCAA DII Quarterfinal
12.7 - DBU/DSU v WWU/PLNU 3:00 (at Western Washington)
WOMEN - CASCADE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE
NAIA Tournament - Full Bracket [+]
First Round
11.22 - Oregon Tech 1-2 Marymount California (at Westmont)... A tough postseason continued as the Owls were unable to overcome a two goal deficit in the second half.
11.22 - Southern Oregon 2-0 Campbellsville (at William Carey)... The Raiders broke a stalemate in the 70th minute and added some late insurance in the 86th to move onto the second round.
11.22 - Rocky Mountain 2-0 MidAmerica Nazarene (at Midland)... Madison Browne found Hannah Borgel with a long ball over the top in the 40th minute to put the Battlin Bears in front and Ellen Hunsaker rose above numerous defenders to head in an extremely long free kick from Alexis Robbins to add some insurance in the 74th. Maia Wetzel made five saves in the shutout.
11.22 - Eastern Oregon 1-0 Bethel (TN) (at John Brown)... After a lengthy stalemate, EOU began to grab an advantage in the second half with a 12-5 edge in shots. It was not until a counter in the 89th minute, though, when the Mountaineers finally broke through for the winner on a Josee Bassett (Coeur d'Alene, ID) through ball that through ball that set up Morgan Farrington's (Meridian, ID) shot through the keeper's legs from about eight yards. Savannah Hutchinson made three saves in the contest and watched a penalty soar wide in the second half.
11.22 - Embry Riddle AU 4-1 Mount Vernon Nazarene (at Vanguard)... Riley Martinson (Deer Park, WA) set up the equalizer for the Eagles in the 38th minute and the second goal four minutes into the second half. Parker Lee (Kennewick, WA) pushed the advantage to two in the 55th and Jennifer Inions (Prosser, WA) set up the final tally.
Second Round
11.23 - Rocky Mountain 0-0 (3-2 SO) Midland (15)... Wetzel added onto her season record shutout tally with her 14th of the year with seven saves as the two sides battled to a scoreless stalemate. Just as she had done in the conference tournament Wetzel took the opening shot in the tiebreaker, giving the Bears the initial lead following a miss by the opposition. After conversions by both teams in the next two rounds she made back-to-back saves en route to a 3-2, clinching a spot at the championship site for the first time in program history. They were the only three seed to reach the NAIA Sweet Sixteen in Alabama.
11.23 - Eastern Oregon 0-0 (3-2 SO) John Brown (13)... Outshot 12-6 in the contest by the hosts, Hutchinson made six stops as they battled to the scoreless stalemate. She was not done though. In the second round of the tiebreaker she and her counterpart both made stops, but she made another in the third round to give EOU the advantage. Both converted again in the fourth and the JBU keeper made another stop in the fifth round to keep them alive, but Hutchinson was a wall, making a third shootout save for the 3-2 win, sending them to Alabama for the second consecutive season. Last year EOU fell 2-0 to two seed William Carey in the Sweet 16.
11.23 - Southern Oregon 1-4 William Carey (1)... The Raiders scored two minutes into the contest, but the top seed was too much, pulling even in the 42nd and adding three in the opening 22 minutes of the second half.
11.23 - Embry-Riddle AU 1-1 (1-3 SO, 4 rds) Vanguard (11)... An equalizer in the second half gave the Eagles a shot at the upset, but they fell in the shootout 3-1 in four rounds.
Sweet Sixteen - Orange Beach, Alabama
12.2 - (4) Central Methodist v Eastern Oregon 11:00 am CT
12.3 - (2) Keiser v Rocky Mountain 11:00 am CT
Elite Eight
12.4 - EOU/CMU v (5) Martin Methodist / Marian (12) 11:00 am CT
12.4 - RMC/Keiser v (10) Science & Arts / Westmont (7) 4:00 CT
Final Four
12.6 - EOU bracket 3:00 CT
12.6 - RMC bracket 6:00 CT
Championship
12.7 - 6:00 CT
- - - - - -
MEN - GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
NCAA DI TOURNAMENT - NCAA BRACKET [+]
Notable First Round Games
11.21 - Seattle 3-1 Loyola Marymount... The Redhawks held the lead at the break against the hosts with a 41st minute goal, but LMU tied it up in the 53rd. SU quickly reclaimed the advantage in the 55th and Noe Meza (Sunnyside, WA) helped set up an insurance tally in the 79th as they went on to the win, keeping their first round record perfect through four appearances.
Notable Second Round Games
11.24 - Boston College 0-2 Washington (6)... Blake Bodily (Eagle, ID) tallied the opening goal off a cross in the 25th minute and set up the second just six minutes later as the Huskies dominated against BC to move onto the third round.
11.24 - Seattle 1-1 (1-2 SO) Stanford... The 16th ranked Redhawks played a thriller at seventh ranked Stanford, falling in penalties. The hosts broke a lengthy stalemate in the 61st minute, but Meza netted the equalizer for the Redhawks in the 75th with a fantastic header off of a corner headed by a teammate. The two would go to the tiebreaker where the Stanford keeper was a brick wall, making four saves after SU had made its initial attempt for a 2-1 shootout victory. The Seattle keeper also made two stops in the tiebreaker. The Redhawks season came to a close with a 16 game unbeaten streak as the match goes down as a draw.
Third Round
12.1 - Marshall @ Washington 5:00
NCAA DII Tournament
Second Round
11.23 - (6) Western Washington 0-5 St Mary's (3)... The 11th ranked side got on the board in the 34th and rolled to the victory.
Third Round
MEN - CASCADE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE
NAIA Tournament - Full Bracket [+]
First Round
11.22 - Eastern Oregon 0-2 Baker (KS)... The surprising postseason run for the Mountaineers came to a close in Kansas. EOU outshot the hosts in the first half, but Baker woke up after intermission, scoring in the 48th and 56th as they rolled onto the next round.
Second Round
11.23 - UC Merced 1-1 (6-5 SO, 6 rds) Corban (12)... After over an hour of scoreless soccer the visitors jumped in front off a corner in the 67th, but the Warriors pulled even via a penalty in the 73rd. Despite having a 22-8 advantage in shots, only three were on target for Corban, allowing matters to go to a shootout. Both sides were perfect through the first five, but after UCM made the sixth the following attempt from the Warriors sailed high. Corban finishes with a record unbeaten 17-0-3 campaign as the match goes down as a draw.
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