Second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan scored two early goals and held on to defeat third-seeded Shenandoah 2-1 in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinal in Virginia Beach.
The Marlins (15-3-2) earned their way to the championship match at 2 p.m. Saturday in Lexington at top-seeded Washington and Lee. The winner will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and the loser will stand a strong chance for at-large selection.
Shenandoah dropped to 11-7-3.
Kaitlyn Seitz scored her fifth goal of the year in the 10th minute. About two minutes later, Alexis Manfredi doubled the lead with her seventh goal of the year for a 2-0 lead.
Shenandoah scored in the 35th minute, but Allie Greco, who made four saves, and her VWU teammates maintained the lead.
Louisiana Monroe netted three first-half goals and held on to defeat Old Dominion 3-2 in a Sun Belt semifinal Wednesday night in Foley, Alabama.
The Warhawks, who made the Sun Belt title match for the first time, will face fourth-seeded Texas State for the championship. An automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Tournament will be at stake.
ODU (11-3-4), who had an RPI of 48 entering the match, has a chance for an at-large berth when the field is revealed at 4 p.m. Monday.
ULM scored three goals in 11 minutes. Sun Belt Player of the Year Skylar Blaise scored the first two on rebounds of shots by Margret Edda Bjarnadottir and Ava Goodman, respectively. The Monarchs then went behind 3-0 when they were victimized by an own goal in the 30th minute off a Libby Holmes shot.
Late in the second half, Hannah Morgan cut the deficit to 3-1 off assists from Andrea Balcazar Algarin and Riley Mullen. The Monarchs made it 3-2 with less then as Algarin and Mullen connected with Ashley Economopoulos, who scored from the top of the box. But ULM maintained possession most of the rest of the way for the victory.
Regent, playing in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time, lost 6-0 to UC Santa Cruz in a quarterfinal on Salisbury’s field. Salisbury beat Johnson & Wales-Charlotte 1-0 in the other quarterfinal.
Top-seeded Christopher Newport will face Salisbury in a semifinal at 11 a.m. Friday.
Top-seeded Stanford grabbed a three-goal lead in the first half and won 3-2 Thursday night over Virginia in an ACC Tournament semifinal in Cary, North Carolina.
Charlotte Kohler scored in the ninth and 31st minutes, taking advantage of turnovers. Jasmine Aikey’s 40-yard shot put the Cardinal ahead 3-0 just before halftime.
The Cavaliers, seeded fifth in the tournament and ranked seventh in the nation, replied on a goal by Meredith McDermott in the 58th minute and a Maggie Cagle penalty kick in the 85th to pull to 3-2, but Stanford held on. Ella Carter’s pass set up McDermott’s goal.UVA’s Victoria Safradin made seven saves, six in the first half.
In the other semifinal in Cary, second-seeded Notre Dame ousted third-seeded Duke 2-1. The Cardinal and Irish will play for the NCAA title at noon Sunday on ESPNU.
The Cavaliers will learn their NCAA Tournament pairings at 4 p.m. Monday in the selection show on NCAA.com.
COLLEGE MEN’S SOCCER
The Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference’s six-team tournament began on Christopher Newport’s field. UC Santa Cruz ousted Johnson & Wales-Charlotte 3-1, and Salisbury overcame Warren Wilson 3-2.
Top-seeded CNU will play a semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday against UC Santa Cruz. Then at 7 p.m., No. 2 Mary Washington will take on No. 3 Salisbury.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Virginia Wesleyan (28-1, 11-0 ODAC), ranked 16th in Division III, celebrated its Senior Day by defeating Randolph 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-15) Wednesday night. Among those four seniors, Jada Foster had six kills and seven digs, Alexis Shaw had 11 kills and Skylar Rivers had nine digs and four assists, and Breana Brooks had two blocks.
Also, Niya Nash had 38 assists, while Hannah Smith had 13 kills and five aces. The WildCats fell to 11-16, 3-8.
COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY
Second-seeded Virginia (16-1) won 3-2 over Syracuse to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship match on Louisville’s artificial turf.
The Cavaliers will take on top-seeded North Carolina for the title at 3 p.m. Friday, and both teams then will head to the NCAA Tournament.
Catalina Quinteros’ goal in the 12th minute and Suze Leemans’ goal in the 49th bookended two goals by the Orange’s Bo Van Kempen, forcing overtime. UVA went 4 for 4 in the shootout.
William & Mary junior Josie Mae Gruendel, who had four goals and an assist in 17 games, was named to the All-Coastal Athletic Association second team.
