NCAA Men’s College Cup semifinal matchups and schedule set
The 2019 NCAA Men’s College Cup field was solidified on Saturday with Georgetown and Wake Forest joining Virginia and Stanford. The Hoyas opened the action by rallying for a 2-1 win over Washington. Later in the day, the Demon Deacons secured the final bid in a 1-0 decision against UC Santa Barbara.
Here’s how each team fared in its quarterfinal match.
Georgetown survived after giving up an opening goal in the fourth minute. Following Jaret Townsend’s strike for Washington, the Hoyas trailed for 68 minutes — their longest stretch of the season — before Jacob Montes equalized with a curling free kick in the 72nd minute. Just four minutes later, captain Derek Dodson netted the tie-breaking goal through traffic to send Georgetown to its second College Cup appearance.
Wake Forest never trailed in its 1-0 win against UC Santa Barbara, but the Demon Deacons did need to weather the Gauchos’ first-half onslaught. USCB had seven shots in the opening stanza, none more dangerous than a point-blank chance from Noah Billingsley in the 40th minute. Wake Forest keeper Andrew Pannenberg came up with a huge stop to keep the match scoreless. Then, in the waning seconds of the half, captain Alistair Johnston maneuvered through the Gauchos back line unassisted to break the deadlock.
The first two bids of the 2019 College Cup were secured on Friday night as No. 1 Virginia and No. 7 Stanford advanced to the national semifinals. Both teams needed extra time to move on. The top-ranked Cavaliers edged No. 8 SMU in overtime while Stanford keeper Andrew Thomas made two huge stops in a penalty shootout to help the Cardinal hold off No. 2 Clemson.
CHAMPIONSHIP INFO: 2019 bracket | Printable bracket | Buy tickets | Scoreboard
Stanford was the first team to punch its College Cup ticket and goalkeeper Andrew Thomas played a pivotal role in doing so. After Tanner Beason and Clemson’s Mohamed Seye exchanged goals in regulation, a scoreless 41 minutes followed, sending the teams to penalty kicks.
Thomas — less than two weeks removed from making four of five shootout saves in Stanford’s second-round win over Seattle — came up with two more rejections, including the decisive stop on Felipe Fernandez to secure the victory and send the Cardinal to their fourth College Cup in five years.
The Cardinal and College Cups. Some things just belong together.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/cJJVUH6RHQ
— Stanford Men’s Soccer (@StanfordMSoccer) December 7, 2019
Virginia booked its spot in Cary only minutes later, opposite Stanford in the bracket. The top-seeded Cavaliers outlasted SMU in overtime. UVA held two separate one-goal leads from tallies by Axel Gunnarson and Joe Bell in the 18th and 78th minutes.
But, the Mustangs’ Gabriel Costa answered the first from the penalty spot and Henrik Bredeli equalized once again in the 84th minute. Three of the five goals in this game came directly or indirectly from penalties, including the winner. Bell was initially denied from the marker in the 94th, only to have the rebound come back to him for a redeeming second chance. The Cavaliers will play on the season’s final weekend for the first time since 2014, the year of the program’s last championship. Stanford returns to the College Cup after winning three consecutive titles from 2015 to 2017.
VIRGINIA.
PK-REBOUND.
GOLDEN GOAL.
TO HEAD TO CARY.
?#NCAASoccer | @UVAMenSoccer pic.twitter.com/9BwsGhcMCT— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 7, 2019
Matches resume on Friday, Dec. 13 with the College Cup semifinals. Top seed Virginia faces an ACC foe, No. 4 Wake Forest, in the first match beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. No. 3 Georgetown and No. 7 Stanford will go head-to-head in the second semifinal, scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m.
2019 NCAA DI men’s soccer tournament: Schedule, scores
All times ET unless noted
QUARTERFINALS (Friday, Dec. 6 OR Saturday, Dec. 7)
Saturday, Dec. 7
Friday, Dec. 6:
- No. 7 Stanford 1, No. 2 Clemson 1 (Stanford wins 5-4 in PK)
- No. 1 Virginia 3, No. 8 Southern Methodist 2 (OT)
SEMIFINALS (Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park — Cary, NC)
Friday, Dec. 13
- No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Wake Forest |6 p.m. | ESPNU
- No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 7 Stanford | 8:30 p.m | ESPNU
CHAMPIONSHIP (Sunday, Dec. 15)
- TBD vs. TBD | 6 p.m. (Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park — Cary, NC) | ESPNU
