In Case You Missed It
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Going out on their shields, the Cougars of Washington State (16-7-1) fought until the bitter end against the No. 1 seeded and No. 2 ranked Tar Heels of North Carolina (24-1-1), falling 2-1 in the national semifinals at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif. Taking on the most storied program in women's soccer history, the Cougars left every ounce of fight on the field Friday night in the first trip to the College Cup in program history. Throwing everything they had at UNC from the start, the Cougs announced themselves on the national stage in just the 7' of action when their all-american striker,
Morgan Weaver, took on the entire Tar Heel back line before slotting home the opening strike of the match. While Weaver finished the goal the scoring opportunity was a total team effort as the chance built from the back with senior keeper
Ella Dederick punting a deep ball to the Cougs' offensive third before it was flicked on by
Elyse Bennett and finally
Averie Collins to the top of the box where Weaver was working her magic. From there, Weaver took advantage of the Heels in retreat before tmaking a turn and sliding her 15th goal of the year to the far post and into the back of the net.
Keeping the pressure on the Tar Heels the Cougs left themselves susceptible to quick turns the other direction as UNC took advantage to score a pair of goals in the first half that would prove to be the difference. The equalizer for UNC came off a quick restart after the Cougars were whistled offsides while trying to run behind the Tar Heels' backline. With the ball pinging around the defensive midfield, the Tar Heels finally chipped a ball over the top of the Cougars' defense where Alessia Russo was able to win a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge and knock home the first goal for UNC in the 24'. 13 minutes later, UNC would strike again as the Tar Heels made an end-to-end run culminating in a perfect cross to the back post from Ru Mucherera that found the head of Alexis Strickland. The goal would be the final tally for either side in the contest despite a wild second half that saw the Cougars throw a handful of haymakers in the final 20 minutes in a last ditch effort to stave off elimination. The tireless effort would go unrewarded for the Cougs as the Tar Heels held on to advance to the national championship game for the second-straight season and 26th time in their program history.
Fact of the Match
The Cougars outshot the Tar Heels 10-8 on the night while earning seven corners to UNC's two.
The Moment Of The Match
Things You Need To Know
- Washington State finished the season 16-7-1 overall, a program record for wins in a single season.
- In the postseason, the Cougars advanced to their first College Cup after defeating #14 Memphis (1-0), #3 Virgina (3-2), West Virginia (3-0), and #5 South Carolina (1-0, OT) before bowing out against #2 North Carolina. The Tar Heels were the second No. 1 seed the Cougars faced in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- WSU ran its overall record in the NCAA Tournament to 8-11-4 with its 4-1-0 record in 2019.
- The loss for the Cougars was the second all-time to the Tar Heels in two meetings having previous fallen in the season opener in 2003.
- WSU lost for just the second time in 17 games when scoring first on the year finishing 15-2 in such games. The one-goal game was the 15th of the year for the Cougars who finished the year 10-5 in nail-biters.
- Morgan Weaver finished her illustrious career at WSU with 43 goals (second most in Cougar history) after recording a career-best 15 goals in 2019. Her 15 goals ranks tied for the third most in WSU single-season history.
- Weaver's 98 career points rank second all-time in program history while her 35 points ranks third-most in a single season.
- Ella Dederick finished her record career with an all-time best 53 wins while finishing second all-time with 29 shutouts and 306 saves.
- As a team, the Cougs finished with 45 goals, third most in program history and the most in the last 26 seasons.
