NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Stephanie Zwicker (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) and Kelly Martin (Gr.. Orlando, Fla.) both scored four times to share Player of the Game honors as Southeast Division Champion/No. 6-ranked the University of Florida built leads of 5-1 and 8-2 by the conclusion of the first and second quarters, respectively, to bury North Atlantic Division Champion/Division III No. 2 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 11-3, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Notre Dame at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
- Via the victory, Florida earns an appointment with Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 1 California Polytechnic State University at 6:20 p.m. this evening in the semifinals with a berth in the National Championship game on Sunday, May 5, at 12:45 p.m. on the line.
- Historically, Florida has never finished outside the Top 10 at the National Club tournament by placing second (2001, 2006), third (2002, 2004, 2012, 2018), fourth (2003, 2016), fifth (2000, 2011), seventh (2008), eighth (2014) and ninth (2005, 2007) in its prior trips to the event. However, Florida has never finished on top of the heap – a feat which the Gators will attempt to earn a crack at against the Mustangs of Cal Poly in the tournament semifinals.
- If patterns tell anything, then Florida has a solid chance to make the title tilt and potentially become the first team from the East Coast to ever win the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship. If the Gators can surpass seven-time National Champion (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Cal Poly and make the title tilt against either four-time champion (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018)/Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 2 University of California-Davis or 2014 Champion/Southwest Division Champion/No. 5 San Diego State University, the team will not need to face their past title roadblock – Michigan State University.
- Michigan State downed Florida for the National Championship in both 2001 (5-4 L at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) and 2006 (5-4 L at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.). However, although the Spartans are competing in the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship for the first time since 2008 thanks to winning the Big Ten Division, MSU fell to MIT by a 6-5 score in the opening round and will play for either Ninth or 11th place on Sunday, May 5.
- Taking on the Engineers of MIT, the Gators clamped down early and kept their North Atlantic Division Champion foes from putting up an early fight by running out to a 5-1 margin by the conclusion of the opening quarter.
- Leading 8-2 by halftime and 9-2 after three quarters of action, the Gators further inflated the final margin of victory to 11-3 courtesy a 2-1 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
- For Florida, Angela Vazquez (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.), Phoebe Iglesias (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and Emily Fennell (Sr., Tampa, Fla.) each notched single goals to join Martin and Zwicker in the scoring column.
- In cage, Emily Stevenson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) earned the start and the win for the Gators with six saves and two goals allowed over 21 minutes. Mary Campbell (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) closed out the contest with seven saves and a goal allowed in the fourth quarter as the Engineers turned up the pressure in an attempt to rally back into the game.
- For MIT, Shannon Moreno (Gr., Fullerton, Calif.) scored twice and Soumya Kannan (Gr., Palo Alto, Calif.) chipped in a solo marker in support of an eight save effort by goalie Vivian Zhang (Sr., San Jose, Calif.).
- The loss drops the Engineers into a consolation game this evening at 7:30 p.m. against Northwest Division Champion/No. 7 the University of Washington. Washington fell to Cal Poly by a 9-5 count in the contest preceding the MIT-Florida game.
- A victory over Washington places MIT into the Fifth Place game (10:15 a.m.), while a loss moves the Engineers in the Seventh Place game (9:00 a.m.), versus either Midwest Division Champion/No. 11 Lindenwood University or New England Division Champion/No. 19 Boston College.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| MIT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 3 |
| University of Florida | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 11 |
| Florida Goals: | Kelly Martin (4); Stephanie Zwicker (4); Angela Vazquez; Phoebe Iglesias; Emily Fennell | |||||
| MIT Goals: | Shannon Moreno (2); Soumya Kannan | |||||
| Saves: | Florida – Emily Stevenson (6, 21 minutes), Mary Campbell (7, 7 minutes) ; MIT – Vivian Zhang (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Florida – 6 ; MIT – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Florida – 6-for-11 ; MIT – 0-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Florida – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; MIT – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Scott Voltz; Greg Sanchez | |||||
University of Florida’s Phoebe Iglesias (#3) fires a pass to teammate Emily Hill (#5) as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Soumya Kannan (#12) and Kara Zhang (#15) close in
Massachusetts Institute of Technology goalie Vivian Zhang (#1) tries for a save against the University of Florida’s Stephanie Zwicker (#4)
University of Florida’s Stephanie Zwicker (#4) defends against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kara Zhang (#15)
