GRESHAM, Ore. — Goalie Mary Campbell (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) made 14 saves, including 11 in the second half, and Stephanie Zwicker (Gr., Gotha, Fla.) scored four goals to share Player of the Game honors as the Southeast Division Champion/No. 5-ranked Gators of the University of Florida edged Big Ten Division Champion/No. 13 The Ohio State University, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Washington at Mt. Hood Community College.
Via the victory, Florida earns a date with Sierra Pacific Division Champion/defending National Champion/No. 1 the University of California-Davis at 5:10 p.m. Pacific/8:10 p.m. Eastern later tonight in the tournament semifinals. The Gators, who have never finished outside the Top 10 at the Women’s National Club tournament, are guaranteed to place no lower than Fourth Place and continue a legacy of high-marks that include second (2001, 2006), third (2002, 2004, 2012), fourth (2003, 2016), fifth (2000, 2011), seventh (2008), eighth (2014) and ninth (2005, 2007) spot placements.
Florida jumped on the scoreboard first as Zwicker zinged in a shot 37 seconds into the game to stake the Gators to a 1-0 lead with 6:23 left in the first quarter. Megan Wolf (Sr., Mason, Ohio) balanced the scoreboard at one-all with 4:10 left on the clock prior to putting Ohio State into the lead with a man-up conversion at 2:30 to push the Buckeyes in front 2-1 by the conclusion of the opening frame.
Zwicker erased the lead with 4:46 to go in the second quarter, but Betsy Trace (Sr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) responded for Ohio State with a power-play conversion at 2:35 to once again place Ohio State in front at 3-2.
Florida evened the score for the third time in the first half as Zwicker completed a first-half hat-trick with 1:16 on the clock to deadlock the teams at three-all through 14 minutes of action.
Following 5:18 of scoreless water polo in the third quarter, the Gators returned to the lead (4-3) for the first time since the game’s opening strike as Jacqueline James (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) dumped a ball into the cage with 1:42 to go until the fourth quarter.
Mariana Lombello (Jr., North Miami, Fla.) insulated the lead to 5-3 26 seconds into the final frame as she broke free to catapult in a six-on-five chance with 6:34 to go for a 5-3 lead.
However, Ohio State would not go quietly as Trace torqued in a tracer at 6:10 to move the Buckeyes back within one at 5-4.
Needing a marker to acquire some breathing room and keep OSU at bay, Zwicker delivered for the Southeast Division Champions by putting away her fourth goal to establish the final score of 6-4 with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter.
For Florida, Zwicker finished with four goals, while James and Lombello both found the back of the cage once.
Across the tank, Trace and Wolf both notched pairs of tallies to account for the entirety of the Buckeyes’ offense. In cage, Amanda Morgan (So., Worthington, Ohio) made seven saves in taking the loss.
The loss prevents Ohio State from returning to the semifinals for the second consecutive year as the Buckeyes finished in Fourth Place at the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Pittsburgh during the team’s first appearance at the tournament.
OSU will have a chance to notch a second straight Top Five finish in as many championship appearances as the team will take on New England Division Champion Boston College, which took a 12-6 loss to UC-Davis in the earlier quarterfinal, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific/7:00 p.m. Eastern to reach the Fifth Place game.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 5 University of Florida | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 6 |
| No. 13 Ohio State University | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 4 |
| Ohio State Goals: | Betsy Trace (2); Megan Wolf (2) | |||||
| Florida Goals: | Stephanie Zwicker (4); Jacqueline James; Mariana Lombello | |||||
| Saves: | Ohio State – Amanda Morgan (7) ; Florida – Mary Campbell (14) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Ohio State – 3; Florida – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Ohio State – 2-for-11 ; Florida – 1-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Ohio State – 1-for-4 (1st) ; Florida – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Simone LePay, Tony Karaman | |||||
Ohio State University’s Betsy Trace (#9) moves the ball forward as the University of Florida’s Stephanie Zwicker (#4) pursues
University of Florida’s Mary Campbell (#1)
University of Florida’s Stephanie Zwicker (#4) prepares to fire a shot as Ohio State University’s Betsy Trace (#9) closes in
University of Florida’s Hayley Suraci (#13) looks down tank as Ohio State University’s Jory Gould (#18) defends
