Kassey Kallman’s FSU Advance to Elite 8 in NCAA D1 Women’s Soccer Tournament

Kassey Kallman

Only one woman soccer player with ties to Minnesota remains in the NCAA D1 Women’s soccer tournament after this past weekend. Kassey Kallman’s (Woodbury, Minn., Woodbury HS) FSU will advance to the final 8 teams in the country who are vying for the national NCAA Championship after defeating the University of Louisville on Sunday, 2-0, as Kallman scored the wining goal.

Senior goalkeeper from the University of Louisville (14-6-3) Kassie Young (Lakeville, Minn. – Lakeville HS) had her season and college career ended on Sunday by sophomore defender Kallman. Louisville had advanced through the first round by defeating Dayton 2-0 and then upsetting #4 seed Memphis on Friday by a score of 2-0. But the Cardinals ran up against Kallman and her #1 seeded Florida State University (17-6-1) team on Sunday in the round of 16.

FSU had taken out Samford 2-0 in the first round, then defeated Portland 3-1 on Friday. Kallman had the game winner in Sunday’s match scoring in the 24th minute when she headed in a throw-in from Jessica Price. Tiffany McCarthy added an insurance goal in the 77th minute after being fed from Janice Cayman, giving FSU a 2-0 victory over Louisville.

The win marked the Seminoles’ 10th shutout of the season as Kallman and her back line continue to show why FSU is one of the best defensive teams in the nation.

“We knew that they were going to come out and play direct,” said Kallman. “We talked about how the back line was going to defend that and I think everyone especially the back line did of reading the pressure, backing off and keeping them in front of us.”

Kallman’s performance against Portland and Louisville earned her honors by being named to the Our Game NCAA Sweet 16 Team of the Week.

For the 7th year in a row FSU will now advance to the Elite 8. They will have home field advantage as they take on Virginia (17-4-2) on Friday, November 25 in an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal match-up. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. ET.

University of Maryland freshman midfielder Shade Pratt’s (Germantown, Maryland – Rosemount HS) Terrapins season has ended. After a 1st round 5-1 win over the La Salle Explorers and then upsetting #3 seed Auburn 1-0 on Friday, they took on #2 seed Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon. But this time there was no upset to be found and Maryland (12-6-4) lost 1-0 to the Cowgirls in the Round of 16. The lone goal by Annika Niemeier came in just the 4th minute of play.

Junior midfielder Chelsea Cline’s (Des Moines, IA – Shattuck-St. Mary’s) UCLA team (16-2-3) was bounced from the tournament on Friday. They had defeated New Mexico 1-0 in the first round last weekend. They were then matched up against San Diego on Friday. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes. In the end San Diego proved the victors with a 3-2 win in penalty kicks.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee freshman midfielder Emma Worthington (Shoreview, Minn. – Moundsview HS) also had her season come to an end on Friday in the round of 32. Her team had defeated  Minnesotan junior forward Kelly Rosenthal’s (Brainerd, Minn. – Brainerd HS) Illinois State (13-6-0) last weekend by a score of 3-0. The #1 seeded Milwaukee (18-2-0) advanced to Friday’s second round but were undone by the Big Ten’s Ohio State who were the #2 seed. The Buckeyes defeated the Panthers 2-1 in Durham, NC.

2011 NCAA D1 WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT BRACKET