TCU women’s soccer produces more late magic, makes national semis for first time
TCU women’s soccer has reached the final four for the first time in school history with another dramatic victory.
Senior midfielder Sydney Becerra converted a penalty kick in overtime, and the Horned Frogs defeated Vanderbilt 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals Saturday night in Nashville, Tennessee,
TCU advances to the College Cup for the first time, and it will meet Florida State in the national semifinals Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Saturday offered a familiar start for TCU, as it fell behind 1-0 in the second half. In the third round on Monday, TCU scored with four seconds left in regulation to tie North Carolina and eventually won in a penalty shootout.
Vanderbilt controlled the pace early. The Commodores had 31 shots to TCU’s eight and had more shots on goal (10) than TCU had shots.
Just like against the Tar Heels, the Horned Frogs responded with a late goal to force overtime.
This goal came off a volley from freshman midfielder Emma Yolinksy, which went off her foot to the bottom right corner of the goal to stun the Commodores, who were a little more than four minutes from victory.
The Horned Frogs didn’t wait for penalty kicks to win this one. After a Hannah McLaughlin foul, Becerra buried the penalty shot to the bottom center of the net beyond the outstretched arms of the Vanderbilt goalkeeper.
The Horned Frogs got another stellar game in goal from Olivia Geller, who made several excellent saves. She had nine in the game, including an incredible leaping save in the first half to keep Vanderbilt off the board.
While TCU has struggled, especially early, to produce offense, every time the Horned Frogs have needed a goal they’ve gotten it in their past two games.
Now they’re two wins away from a national championship.
