Friday, November 17, 2017

Cougars Advance on Three Dederick Saves in Shootout


In a back-and-forth affair in Florida that finished 2-2, it was Ella Dederick that quickly became the star of the contest as the keeper made three consecutive saves in rounds 2-4 to give the Cougars a 3-1 victory in the tiebreaker to send them onto the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.



Morgan Weaver put the Cougars on the board first with a goal from just outside the left corner of the box that slipped through a pair of defenders between her and the goal and snuck inside the near post.



The Volunteers quickly answered in the 19th minute off a corner kick put away by Danielle Marcano, and claimed the lead 10 minutes later with a breakaway goal from Marcano.

Kelsee Crenshaw tied the game up with a dramatic late strike with 11 minutes remaining, whipping a long effort from about 25 yards out from the right corner of the box with a shot that swerved to the far upper corner of the goal out of the keeper's reach.



The Cougars had several chances in the remaining minutes of regulation and overtime, but ultimately found themselves going to penalties to determine who would advance to the next round after a 2-2 draw. It was the fourth time an NCAA tournament match was decided from the spot for the Cougs, whose record in shootouts is now 2-2.



After Maegan O'Neill (Spokane, WA) converted to tie things up in the first round Ella Dederick stopped the second Vols attempt to give WSU the advantage following a conversion by Sofia Anker-Kofoed. Then Dederick did it again with another stop, giving the Cougs a two-shot advantage following Jordan Branch conversion. Dederick then clinched the shootout victory with a third consecutive save on the next Vols attempt, sending the Cougs onto the next round. They will face either South Florida or host three seed Florida.






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