Cardinal, Fighting Irish set for title bout

CARY, NORTH CAROLINA – For Stanford, it was more of the same.

For Notre Dame, it was another chance to remind the NCAA seeding committee how badly it underestimated their team.

Sunday none of that will matter, it will just be the 23-0-2 Cardinal vs. the 19-2-2 Fighting Irish playing for all the marbles.

Top seed and consensus #1 Stanford beat Boston College 2-0, while Notre Dame, chosen as just a 4th seed in their bracket despite only losing twice this year, beat Ohio State 1-0. The teams play tomorrow at noon and we’ll be there again.

Read on for details, videos and comments from the night’s action.

Notre Dame 1, Ohio State 0

After a somewhat lackluster 1st half, the Fighting Irish had most of the possession in the 2nd half, but were having trouble breaking through due to strident defending from the Buckeyes and some high-quality goalkeeper from Katie Baumgardner. The junior from Sterling, VA made big save after big save and also got a little help from the woodwork.

The breakthrough, a justified one as Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum put it, came from freshman midfielder Mandy Laddish, who scored an electrifying goal, running 40 yards with the ball and crashing a left-footed drive into the back of the net. Laddish had been good all game, covering acres of space across the midfield and running with the ball effectively.

She and teammate Melissa Henderson talked about the goal and difficulty in breaking through.

Waldrum explained why his team performed better after halftime.

Notre Dame put in a good attacking move early in the match, that began with a run from left flank by Kecia Morway, continued with a nice pass from Courtney Barg in midfield, and nearly resulted in a goal when Julie Scheidler served a ball in from the right that Rose Augustin headed toward the far post, but OSU goalkeeper Katie Baumgardner was on hand to make the save.

In the 16th minute, Fowlkes chased down a ball and played a short pass to Melissa Henderson, whose serve on goal was redirected by Rose Augustin just wide of goal.

OSU’s first chance came in the 20th minute when Lauren Granberg outfought a Notre Dame defender for a longball, cut back and fired a low shot that Notre Dame goalkeeper Nikki Weiss had to be alert to keep from sneaking inside the near post. Just afterward, Baumgardner made a good save on a shot from Notre Dame’s Courtney Barg.

In the 24th minute, Augustin got to a loose ball in the forward third and unleashed a shot that hit the juncture of the upright and crossbar. The rest of the match featured a lot of grinding and not much in the way of scoring chances.

As the 2nd half began, Notre Dame seemed to have their track shoes on, with Irish coach Randy Waldrum leaving some speedier substitutes on the field. Baumgardner had a nervous moment early on as she appeared to misconnect while attempting to push a cross over the bar, but nothing came of it, same with a breakaway shot by sub Adriana Leon that went straight into the Buckeye goalkeeper’s arms.

Scheidler hit a bullet cross in the 55th minute and Elizabeth Tucker’s volley forced Baumgardner into a reflex save. On the resulting corner, Courtney Barg sent a dangerous ball in that Baumgardner scramble to punch away. Melissa Henderson then hit two hard shots from inside the area. One hit a teammate and her rebound effort forced Baumgardner into a miracle save, diving to her right and palming the ball just around the post.

With 9 minutes remaining, Henderson got loose for a shot at the edge of the area and sent it crashing off the bar. Cassie Dickerson made a timely clearance to keep Lauren Fowlkes from reaching the rebound.

But the reprieve was temporary> Mandy Laddish won a ball at the midfield stripe and ran 40 yards into the area before ripping a left-footed shot that left the excellent Baumgardner with no chance, to put the Fighting Irish on top 1-0.

Notre Dame nearly doubled the lead a minute later as Henderson ran into the area and fed Tucker, but her shot was brilliantly denied by Baumgardner, who made another point blank save with a few minutes left.

Ohio State nearly equalized as Paige Maxwell’s lobbed volley beat Weiss but hit the upright. That was the final chance and the Fighting Irish prevailed 1-0.

Notre Dame Lineup
GK: Nikki Weiss
D: Julie Scheidler, Molly Campbell, Jessica Schuveiller, Kecia Morway
M: Elizabeth Tucker, Courtney Barg, Mandy Laddish
F: Melissa Henderson, Rose Augustin, Lauren Fowlkes
Subs: Adriana Leon, Jazmin Hall, Erica Iantorno, Ellen Jantsch

Ohio State Lineup
GK: Katie Baumgardner
D: Liz Sullivan, Lauren Beachy, Cassie Dickerson, Megan Fuller
M: Courtney Jenkins, Lauren Steuer, Danica Wu
F: Paige Maxwell, Tiffany Cameron,Lauren Granberg
Subs: Kristen Niederhaus, Caitlyn Martin, Kendyl Reed, Aly Walker

Stanford 2, Boston College 0

Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said his team came out a little tight because of the big stage, and as a result the Cardinal took a while to get its attack going. Alison Foley’s Eagles were trying to play a killer pass through the middle but couldn’t quite get the timing right.

In the end it was Camille Levin’s 2nd half goal that made the difference. The versatile Slammers’ alum made a good run across the top of the area and then hit a shot inside the far post for a fantastic winning goal. Lindsay Taylor was gifted a 2nd in the closing minutes and Stanford had a return trip to the final, where it lost last year to North Carolina.

Hannah Cerrone made a vital tackle in the opening minutes, preventing Camille Levin from breaking through the middle into the 6-yard box. On the other end, Amy Caldwell earned a corner for BC, and Cerrone’s good cross had to be pushed away by Stanford goalkeeper Emily Oliver.

Christen Press turned her marker inside out in the 25th minute and forced Mastroianni into a point-blank range save. A few minutes later Press made a weaving run across the front of the area and hit a drive that Mastroianni did well to catch.

Much of the remaining 1st half time was played at midfield, but Stanford came close in the 42nd minute when Alina Garciamendez hit a header wide of the target off a Courtney Verloo corner. In the final minute, Levin hit a shot through a maze of bodies that came close, but was cleared by Alaina Beyar, and the match went to the break scoreless.

Press nearly got behind the defense in the opening minute of the 2nd half with one of her trademark runs. She ended up cutting the ball back to give herself space and hit a left-footed drive that Mastroianni did well to save.

In the 48th minute, it was Camille Levin who made a run from the left and then hit a drive under the bar from 22 yards to make it 1-0 Stanford.

Boston College had a scoring chance in the 60th minute as Julia Bouchelle put on a nice move and rolled a pass into the path of Cerrone, but the shot went straight to Stanford goalkeeper Oliver. In the 67th minute, BC’s Kristen Mewis made some space for herself and hit a left-footed shot just wide.

Stanford were sitting back and giving Boston College much more of the ball. A cross from the left found the head of Mewis and her header forced a diving save from Oliver. Cerrone raced in to reach the rebound but her effort, under duress from Oliver, went over the bar.

Amy Caldwell’s shot with 6 minutes remaining went narrowly over.That ended up being the last chance to equalize for the Eagles, as Mastroianni tried to rush a goal kick and Stanford’s Lindsay Taylor intercepted the pass, walked in on goal and scored an easy goal to make it 2-0 in the 87th minute, sealing an appointment in the title game.

Stanford Lineup
GK: Emily Oliver
D: Alina Garciamendez, Courtney Verloo, Rachel Quon, Annie Case
M: Mariah Nogueira, Teresa Noyola, Allison McCann
F: Christen Press, Camille Levin, Lindsay Taylor
Subs: Marjani Hing-Glover, Kristy Zurmuhlen, Sydney Payne

Boston College Lineup
GK: Jillian Mastroianni
D: Chelsea Regan, Alyssa Pember, Hannah Cerrone, Alaina Beyar
M: Kate McCarthy, Kristen Mewis, Julia Bouchelle, Amy Caldwell
F: Brooke Knowlton, Victoria DiMartino
Subs: Natalie Crutchfield, Stephanie Wirth, Maddie Payne, Patrice Vettori, Jillian McNeil