Grand Valley State is heading back to the NCAA Division II women’s final four for the seventh year in a row after surviving a scare against Central Missouri in the quarterfinals.
TheLakers trailed for only the second time in 23 games before rallying to tie 1-1 on a goal by Jayma Martin in the first minute after the break. They eventually prevailed in a shootout, 3-1, andmove on to face Western Washington in the semifinals in Pensacola, Florida.
Catherine Miles scored a pair of goals less than 10 minutes apart in the second half to lift WesternWashington past Dallas Baptist, 3-1, in the quarterfinals and extend the Vikings’ unbeaten streak to 20 games, tied for the second-longest in school history.
In Friday’s other game, No. 1seed Bridgeport will face Columbus State in a matchup of two teams making their first appearances in the national semifinals.
Freshman Jess Laszlo scored both goals to liftBridgeport past East Stroudsburg, 2-0. Columbus State’s 2-0 win over Barry on goals by Hugrun Elvarsdottir and Nicole Corcione ended a string of three exits for the Lady Cougars in thefinal eight.
NCAA Division II Women’s Tournament:
QUARTERFINALS
Nov. 22
Columbus State 2 Barry0
Bridgeport 2 East Stroudsburg 0
Western Washington 3 Dallas Baptist 1
Grand Valley State 1 Central Missouri 1
(Grand Valley State wins 3-1 on penalties.)
SEMIFINALS
Dec. 3
Columbus State (21-2-1) vs. Bridgeport (21-1-1)
Western Washington (20-1-1) vs. Grand Valley State (21-1-1)
Final four will be played inPensacola, Florida