Colleges

FSU advances, UF goes home

By wire services
Published November 12, 2005

GAINESVILLE - Second-seeded Florida State opened with a victory while host Florida suffered a season-ending loss in the NCAA women's soccer tournament Friday.

The Seminoles (18-3) began the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Florida Atlantic (16-4-1).

FSU midfielder India Trotter scored two goals, her ninth and 10th of the season, as FSU won its record-setting 18th game of the season.

At 1 p.m. Sunday, FSU faces Illinois (11-6-3), which ousted the Gators 1-0 in double overtime.

FSU ended FAU's 14-game undefeated run into the tournament and remained unbeaten in NCAA Tournament openers at 5-0-1.

The Seminoles held the Owls without a goal for the first time in 16 games, establishing a school record with their 11th shutout of the season.

FSU ended Florida Atlantic's shutout streak, which exceeded 850 minutes before Trotter scored the eventual winner at 43:01.

"I thought it was a very challenging game and Florida Atlantic was very organized as I expected they would be," Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said. "Their commitment to defend and be organized and generate chances as well was outstanding."

Illinois' Laura Redmond scored the winning goal over Florida early in the second overtime at 101:37. Redmond put in the short shot to the near post after teammates Christen Karniski and Ella Masar got the ball into scoring position.

The loss marked the third time in the past five years that the season ended in overtime for Florida (13-6-1).

"It was a difficult game," UF coach Becky Burleigh said. "It was pretty much evenly matched like we expected it would be. We had a lot of great opportunities."

USF MEN ADVANCE: In their first shootout since 1991, USF's men (6-3-9, 3-3-4) played Providence to a scoreless regulation then won 3-2 on penalty kicks to advance to the Big East championship at Storrs, Conn.

Filling in for the injured Dane Brenner, goalkeeper Bryan Fossi made his first career start to guide the Bulls to the final, and USF notched its fourth shutout of the season.

[Last modified November 12, 2005, 00:55:15]