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College tournament updates

12/02/2012, 9:51pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON

Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) will close out his college soccer career back at the NCAA College Cup.

The senior defender turned in his customary 90 minutes on the backline as eighth-ranked Creighton stunned No. 7 Connecticut 1-0 in a quarterfinal match Sunday in Storrs, Conn., to earn its second straight national semifinal berth.

Christian Blandon scored in the 89th minute on a shot that went in off the crossbar as the Bluejays (17-3-3) ended the Huskies' 38-game home unbeaten streak (32-0-6), becoming the first visiting team to win at Morrone Stadium since Nov. 7, 2009.

Ribeiro has played all but 20 minutes this season for Creighton, which takes a 14-game unbeaten streak into its matchup against Indiana in a national semifinal Friday in Hoover, Ala.

The Bluejays were ousted by Charlotte 4-1 on penalty kicks following a 0-0 draw in the semifinals last year, also in Hoover. However, one Creighton player has great memories of that weekend: Junior forward Carlos McCrary, who's played for the Madison 56ers in the National Premier Soccer League each of the past two summers, was part of the North Carolina team that won the national title before transferring to Creighton this year.

  • Indiana (14-5-3), led by one-time University of Wisconsin coach Todd Yeagley, ended an eight-year College Cup drought and fifth-ranked North Carolina's 40-game home unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory Friday night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Eriq Zavaleta's 60th-minute header, his 18th goal of the season, secured the Hoosiers' 18th College Cup berth.
  • Second-ranked Maryland (20-1-2), under the direction of coach Sasho Cirovski(UW-Milwaukee), earned its 12th College Cup appearance with a 3-1 victory over No. 17 Louisville on Saturday in College Park, Md. The Terrapins will face sixth-ranked Georgetown (19-3-2), which knocked off San Diego 3-1 to earn its first College Cup berth.

NCAA Division III men

No. 4 Loras (Iowa) battled perennial power Messiah (Pa.) into overtime, but a 99th-minute gave the top-ranked Falcons a 1-0 victory in a semifinal Friday in San Antonio.

Senior defender Malcolm Calbert (Stoughton) and junior Erik Berkowitz (Racine St. Catherine's) were in the starting XI for the Duhawks (23-2-1), who had a 16-game winning streak halted. Calbert played 96 minutes, Berkowitz logged 84 and freshman midfielder Jorge Simon (Kimberly) saw 10 minutes of action off the bench.

Loras, which was shut out for just the second time this season, was seeking its first berth in the national championship game – the Duhawks have been eliminated in the semifinals by Messiah in their past two appearances. The Falcons (23-0-2) scored four times in the opening 19 minutes and routed defending champion and No. 10 Ohio Northern 5-1 in Saturday's final to extend their record with their ninth national championship.

NCAA Division II women

Senior forward Ashley Botts (Beloit) scored her team-best 18th goal of the season in the 81st to pull No. 3 Grand Valley State (Mich.) within one, but the Lakers couldn't find an equalizer and fell to fifth-ranked UC San Diego 2-1 in a semifinal Thursday in Evans, Ga.

Botts finished off a rebound after sophomore Charlie Socia's shot banged off the post for Grand Valley State (20-2-3), who had their 11-game unbeaten streak ended.

Botts finished her career with 67 goals and 29 assists in 95 matches, and was part of a senior class that compiled an 84-4-13 record and advanced to the national semifinals all four years – winning titles in 2009 and '10. No. 2 West Florida (24-1-0) posted a 1-0 victory over UC San Diego (17-3-4) in Saturday's final to claim its first national championship.

NAIA men

No. 21 Belhaven (Miss.) won its second national title – and first in 20 years – with a 2-0 victory over seventh-ranked Mobile (Ala.) 2-0 in the final in Montgomery, Ala. Mobile's coach is Roy Patton, who was the general manager and technical director at Middleton Yahara SC from 2007 to '11.

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Tag(s): College