W-League Feature
Monday, November 12, 2012
Penn State’s Christine Nairn and Maya Hayes each found the back of the net as the W-League standouts led the Nittany Lions past Long Island University in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday evening. Nairn, formerly of D.C. United Women, and Hayes, of the New Jersey Wildcats, led a number of current and former W-League players who helped their sides advance to the second round during the opening weekend of the tournament.
Nairn gave the Nittany Lions the lead in the 25th minute with her 14th goal of the season, and by halftime their lead had been doubled by Raquel Rodriguez. Former Hudson Valley Quickstrike forward Tani Costa then added to Penn State’s lead before Hayes capped the scoring with nine minutes to go.
Former Pali Blues standout Tiffany McCarty scored twice as Florida State opened the 2012 NCAA Women’s Tournament in style with a 6-0 victory against Mississippi Valley State. McCarty leads the No. 1-seed Seminoles in goals this season, and opened her tournament account this year after Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Ines Jaurena had given their side an early advantage.
McCarty then added a second with 20 minutes remaining for her 12th goal of the season, with fellow Blues player Jamia Fields and Laval Comets midfielder Marta Bakowska-Matthews also finding the net after the break.
Bakowska-Matthews’ Laval teammate Nkem Ezurike also found the back of the net this weekend, scoring the game-winning goal for Michigan in their 2-1 overtime victory against Central Michigan on Saturday evening. Ezurike’s goal was her team-leading 14th of the season, and sent the Wolverines into a second-round contest against Portland.
Fellow No. 1 seeds Stanford and BYU both comfortably advanced into the second round, with former Pali Blues player Sydney Payne finding the back of the net in the Cardinal’s 3-0 win against Idaho State. North Carolina also moved on to the second round thanks to goals by the Long Island Rough Riders’ Crystal Dunn and the New Jersey Wildcats’ Amber Brooks which gave it a 2-0 victory against Radford.
Former Bradenton Athletics standout Erika Tymrak led Florida past Florida Gulf Coast in its first round contests, recording a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win on Friday night. Tymrak scored the opening goal for the Gators in the 22nd minute before setting up Annie Speese for their second with just less than 15 minutes remaining.
The Charlotte Lady Eagles’ Gloria Douglas helped Virginia advance to the second round, recording a goal and two assists in the Cavaliers’ 4-1 win against LaSalle on Friday night. Douglas, who had four goals and an assist this summer for Charlotte, now has five goals and four assists this season for Virginia, sitting in third place on the team with 14 points.
The tournament now heads to the top four seeds’ campus for second and third round action that begins on Thursday and Friday night in Palo Alto, Calif., Provo, Utah, Tallahassee, Fla. and Happy Valley, Pa.