The NCAA tournament marches on, with the Sweet 16 playing out over the weekend. Here are the results leading to the quarterfinals round set for Friday and Saturday:
No. 8 Georgetown 2, No. 9 Syracuse 1 (OT)
Georgetown hadn’t scored off a corner kick all season heading into their knockout match against rival Syracuse. But after going behind in the 55th minute, the Hoyas stormed back to put two corner-kick goals past the vaunted Orange defense, one in the 80th minute off the head of junior defender Keegan Rosenberry and a near-post finish in the 94th by senior midfielder Jared Rist, his first collegiate goal.
No. 3 Michigan State 2, No. 14 Washington 2 (MSU advances 4-3 in a shootout)
Michigan State’s goose looked well and truly cooked after falling behind 2-0 to the high-powered attack of the Washington Huskies. After a UW own-goal, however, the Spartans were able to send the game into overtime with an 88th-minute goal by senior forward Tim Kreutz and finally came out on top after Huskies attacker Darwin Jones pinged the fifth kick of the penalty shootout off the crossbar.
No. 12 Creighton 2, Xavier 1
Creighton opened the scoring in the 43rd minute off a goal by sophomore striker Fabian Herbers, then doubled their lead in the 62nd behind junior midfielder Fernand Castellanos. The Musketeers got one back in the 70th after a superbly placed 40-yard free-kick goal by freshman defender Cory Brown, but in the end it wasn’t enough to get past the Bluejays.
No. 13 Louisville 0, UMBC 1
A week after toppling Big Ten champions Maryland, UMBC kept their upset streak going with a 1-0 win on the road against Louisville. Senior midfielder Mamadou Kansaye scored the game’s only goal in the 24th minute off a penalty kick, and sophomore goalkeeper Billy Heavner was able to keep Louisville’s attack off the board despite being forced into four saves.
No. 7 Clemson 1, North Carolina 2
Two goals from senior forward Rob Lovejoy were enough for the Tar Heels to see off ACC tournament champions Clemson. UNC took the lead in the 13th minute before conceding to the Tigers in the 24th on a penalty kick by junior defender Kyle Fisher. Lovejoy would put North Carolina ahead for good in the 71st minute on a beautifully placed far-post finish.
No. 1 Notre Dame 0, No. 16 Virginia 1
Notre Dame’s defense of their national title ended with a 1-0 loss to ACC rivals Virginia. The Cavaliers left it late, but they were finally able to break through in the 82nd minute behind sophomore midfielder Nicko Corriveau.
No. 11 Providence 1, UC Irvine 0
Providence continued their march through the NCAA tournament with a 1-0 win over visiting UC Irvine thanks to a 77th-minute free kick by senior forward Markus Naglestad. Friars goalkeeper Keasel Broome was called upon to make two saves against the Anteaters.
No. 2 UCLA 3, No. 15 Cal 2
It took some doing, but at the end of the night UCLA was able to hold off Cal’s potent attack long enough to take a 3-2 win at home over their Pac-12 rivals. The Bruins opened the scoring in the 30th minute off a header by Chase Gasper, then doubled their lead five minutes later courtesy of a wonder strike by LA Galaxy Academy product Brian Iloski. The Golden Bears answered back with an unstoppable long-range strike by senior midfielder Connor Hallisey, but in the 55th minute the Bruins would get the deciding goal from junior midfielder Jordan Vale.
