In the end, Stanford and Florida lived up to their seeding, but both had tough games in the regional semifinals. Stanford outshot Washington 20 to 4, but they were never able to put away the Huskies. The story was the same for the Cardinal in the previous round against Arkansas. They outshot the Razorbacks 24 to 6, but had to sweat out a 1-0 win. Stanford has certainly been susceptible so far in the NCAA Tournament and they are lucky that Lo’eau Labonta has been able to finish. Florida’s offense on the other hand has been more potent thus far. They have scored three goals in each of their three games and Savannah Jordan, Annie Speese and Havana Solaun are playing great soccer right now. Those three account for all nine tournament goals.
All the momentum is heading towards Florida, but this game is in Palo Alto and that is huge. The Cardinal do not lose at home and they have still only lost one game all season long. This game is going to be all about taking advantage of opportunities. Stanford will not likely get 24 shots in this game and every chance is going to be crucial. Both keepers, Jane Campbell of Stanford and Taylor Burke of Florida, have not been tested too much yet during the tournament, but that is probably going to come to an end now. Whichever keeper can come up with a big save or two may give their team just enough to reach the College Cup.
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