University of Washington
Maryland (Third Round)
UW Women Advance to Elite Eight of NCAA Soccer Tourney
November 20, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 20, 2004
SEATTLE - Senior forward Tina Frimpong put back a teammate's shot that caromed off the Maryland goalkeeper, scoring the lone goal in the 19th minute of Washington's 1-0 victory Saturday in the third-round of the NCAA women's soccer tournament at Husky Soccer Field.
The 15th-seeded Huskies (17-4-1) advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in their 14-year history. They will meet No. 7 seed Princeton (18-2) next weekend. The date and venue will be announced Sunday, but it will definitely be held at one of the competing school's home field. The quarterfinal contest will likely be played at Princeton due to the Tigers' higher seed.
Freshman Colby Branham (Gig Harbor, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) created the scoring situation with a 20-yard blast from the left side that deflected off goalkeeper Nikki Resnick. Frimpong collected the rebound and deposited it into the net from five yards out at 18:48 for her 15th goal of the season. That was the school single-season record eighth game-winning goal for Frimpong who eclipsed the previous mark of seven established by Tami Bennett in 2000.
Branham's shot was one of the few balls that Terrapin goalkeeper Nikki Resnick did not hold on to. She had eight saves, most of them with brilliant stops of point-blank Husky shots.
"I was getting frustrated, but you have to keep getting after it," said Frimpong, who had three of her six shots snared by Resnick. "Being a senior, you have to keep your head up and keep asking them for those same types of balls and hopefully one of them will go in."
Frimpong (Vancouver, Wash./Hudson's Bay) is the only player to twice be named Pac-10 Player of the Year. She played a part in all three game-winning goals during the Huskies' surge through the NCAA Tournament. She scored the first goal in the 5-0 first-round win over Birmingham-Southern and assisted on Kelley Schweighart's decisive tally in the 1-0 second-round victory at Auburn.
"It was a tough game from beginning to end. I couldn't be more proud of our group of players," said 11th-year Husky coach Lesle Gallimore. She directed UW to eight NCAA Tournament berths, but only once before advanced as far as the Sweet 16.
"It's a great accomplishment for our team. I think everything that happened to us this year has built so much character and more desire as a team. There has been a little bit of adversity thrown the Huskies' way and I'm proud of the way they responded to it."
Washington played against Maryland without the services of third-leading scorer Kim Taylor (Woodland Hills, Calif.). The junior forward was diagnosed with mononucleosis and her status for this weekend is uncertain.
Saturday's outing was a makeup game of sorts for Washington and Maryland who were scheduled to meet Sept. 17 in College Park, Md. That regular-season game was canceled due to thunderstorms and a tornado warning.
Husky goalkeeper Kelsey Rasmussen (Gig Harbor, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) notched her school-record 10th shutout of the season. She was called upon to make just one save as the UW defense was suffocating. The final statistics show that Maryland was outshot by a 17-10 margin, but only one Terrapin attempt was on frame while nine UW shots were directly on goal.
"I don't think there were any good shots at goal," said freshman defender Dana Stirn (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) who credited Coach Gallimore for snapping the Huskies out of a mid-season defensive funk. "Lesle got on us about it."
Saturday marked UW's fifth consecutive shutout, the second-longest streak in school history. The 1991 team posted seven straight shutouts.
The current shutout string comes immediately after a seven-game stretch during which the Huskies allowed 18 goals. UW was scored upon in all seven games, capped by a 3-2 loss at Washington State on Oct. 29. The Cougars tallied three goals in the opening 16 minutes.
"It was almost laughable," Gallimore exclaims of the sub-par defensive effort at WSU. "We got to the point where that five-hour drive home from Pullman felt like Donald Trump's boardroom. We had a big bus meeting on the way home. These guys took it to heart and, as a coach, you couldn't be more pleased.
Maryland (9-7-4) had reached the Sweet 16 by virtue of a 1-0 second-round triumph over No. 2 seed Penn State. The Terrapins were unable to overcome UW's early goal.
"I couldn't be more proud of the game our team played defensively to hang onto that game," Gallimore added. "Clearly was had a lot of chances and it would have been nice to get a little breathing room. With that said, what a testament to our team that we defended so well and didn't really give up any shots."
Princeton also boasts a stingy defense that has not surrendered a goal during the tournament. The Tigers moved into the quarterfinals with of a 5-0 opening-round win over Central Connecticut State, a 1-0 blanking of Villanova and a 2-0 third-round shutout of Boston College.
Washington is one of four West Coast teams still alive in the 64-team tournament. Portland plays Notre Dame in the quarterfinals while Santa Clara clashes with Illinois. UCLA meets the winner of Sunday's Tennessee-Ohio State game.
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT -- 3rd Round
(#15) Washington 1, Maryland 0
Saturday, Nov. 20, 2004
Husky Soccer Field; Seattle, Wash.
Scoring
-- 1, UW, Tina Frimpong (Colby Branham), 18:48.Shots -- MD 10, UW 17.
Saves -- MD 8 (Nikki Resnick), UW 1 (Kelsey Rasmussen).
Corner Kicks -- MD 1, UW 5.
Fouls --- MD 5, UW 4.
Offsides -- MD 1, UW 2.
Attendance -- 1,275.
Records:
Washington 17-4-1
Maryland 9-7-4
