NCAA WOMEN: Tournament Play Is Underway

The end of the regular season is finally here. This past weekend saw some teams close out their seasons and saw some teams start their conference tournament play. As always, there were a few upsets but none bigger than North Carolina's second straight loss.

The Tarheels began their first of two games on Friday in Winston-Salem where they faced Wake Forest. It was a close game and the only goal came on a penalty kick against North Carolina. Demon Deacon Tracy Chao hit the game winning shot against Tarheel keeper Jenni Branam. North Carolina outshot Wake Forest 28-5 and had 8 corner kicks while the Demon Deacons only had 2. This loss dropped North Carolina to 3-3 in the ACC, and prior to its three losses, the Tarheels had only one ACC loss in the program's history. Also, the last time North Carolina lost two straight games was in 1982.

North Carolina did end its regular season on a high note with a 6-0 win over Maryland. The final home game was in front of over 3,000 fans. Six different Tarheels scored to put the two game losing streak behind them as they head into the ACC Tournament. The win secured North Carolina a third place seed in the tournament. The first three goals of the match came in the first five minutes. Sophomore forward Kim Patrick had a rebound off of a Maryland defender for the first goal. The second goal came from junior midfielder Jena Kluegel as she bent a corner kick into the net. Goal number three came off of the head of freshman forward Alyssa Ramsey. Ramsey received a beautiful cross from Kluegel for the header. The next two goals came at the bottom of the first half. Junior Danielle Borgman found herself up front instead of her usual defender position and capitalized on this opportunity. She punched a cross in the bottom left corner for her second goal of the season. Laurie Schwoy, the senior midfielder, assisted on Borgman's goal and setup the fifth goal scored by freshman forward Catherine Reddick. Kluegel notched another assist on this goal. Meredith Florance continued her dominating scoring by driving in the Tarheels' sixth goal off of an assist from junior midfielder Anne Remy. Florance ends the regular season with 19 goals. The ACC Tournament quarterfinals begin on Thursday at Duke University. North Carolina takes on North Carolina State.

Number one ranked Notre Dame extend its winning streak to 19 and remained the nation's only undefeated team with its 3-0 Big East quarterfinal win over Miami. The Sunday afternoon game in South Bend, Indiana, was a display of Notre Dame's freshman talent. Freshman forward Amy Warner scored the Fighting Irish's first goal. Warner was again a spark off of the bench for Notre Dame. In the second half, senior midfielder Anne Makinen was credited with the second goal for the Irish, and the freshmen came up big for the third goal. Freshman midfielder Randi Scheller and forward Amanda Guertin teamed up for the last goal. The Irish held Miami to 2 shots on goal while they took 17. On Friday, Notre Dame faces Boston College in the Big East semi-final and UConn will meet Syracuse in the other semi-final.

The Washington Huskies finished their regular season with two great wins. In its first of two games, the Huskies faced Oregon State on Friday. It was a tough game for Washington as they had an edge on shots on goal, 17-15. The Huskies took an early lead courtesy of junior Caroline Putz who capitalized on a misclear by a Beaver defender. She drilled the shot past keeper Jerika Duran. Oregon State quickly came back as Ann Marie Fallow took a cross from Leila Kaady to head it into the back of the net. The game remained tied until there was four minutes left in the overtime period. Husky senior Theresa Wagner headed a cross from defender Suzanne Culpepper into the net from 12 yards out. It was Wagner's sixth goal of the season.

Wagner's scoring continued in Sunday's game against Oregon. The Huskies soundly defeated the Ducks 6-1. The win earned Washington its first-ever Pac-10 conference title. Wagner started at forward instead of her midfielder position and scored two goals in the first six minutes. Her first goal was a 20-yard rocket shot and her second came off of a cross from Putz. Wagner added an assist to her goals by crossing a ball to Tami Bennett. This was Bennett's 15th goal of the season and 33rd career goal. Wagner's hat trick came in the 20th minute on an 8-yard shot. Wagner's third career hat trick became a new school record and her four goals tied the single-game scoring record set in 1994. Goal number for Wagner came ten minutes later when she converted a penalty kick. IN the 36th minute, freshman Dana Dibble notched her first collegiate goal to send the Huskies into half time with a 6-0 advantage.

The second half was quiet for the Huskies but the Ducks were able to get on the board with a goal from Beth Bowler. All-American candidate Hope Solo registered three saves and Leslie Weeks, who took over in the second half, had two. The win gives the Huskies an automatic playoff birth in the NCAA Tournament.

Friday saw more ACC action as Clemson defeated Florida4-3. The shots on goal were close with Clemson having and Florida with 19. Florida came out early with Abby Wombach scoring her of three goals at the 9-minute mark. Two minutes later, sophomore Deliah Arrington tied the game with an unassisted goal. Freshman Lindsay Browne came up big for the Lady Tigers. Arrington found Browne on a cross and she scored her 12th goal of the season. The teams entered half time tied at 2-2. At the 62nd minute mark, Lady Tiger Heather Beem assisted Browne on her second goal. Thirteen minutes later, Clemson pushed its lead to two with a goal from Allison Mitchell off of an Arrington assist. With less than nine minutes remaining, Florida's Wombach had her third goal but the late surge by Florida wasn't enough to defeat Clemson. The Lady Tigers enter the ACC Tournament as the top team and will face Maryland on Thursday to start off the tournament.

The Nebraska Huskers finished its regular season with a 2-0 victory over Iowa State. The Huskers registered its 13th shut-out of the season and will enter the Big 12 Tournament as the top team. They extended their conference record to 9-1. Junior Meghan Anderson drilled a corner kick which found sophomore Christine Latham for her first goal of the game. Junior forward Becky Preston had the assist on Latham's second goal. These two goals pushed Latham's season goals to 20. Senior keeper Karina LeBlanc lowered her goals-against average to .40 with this shut-out. The Huskers take on Kansas in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.