Women’s soccer beats Wake Forest to advance to Sweet 16 for first time

The UC Irvine women’s soccer team defeated Wake Forest University 2-0 Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Anteater Stadium.

UCI advances to the round of 16 for the first time and will host the University of Washington at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 at Anteater Stadium. The Huskies upset the No. 2 overall seed, the University of Portland, 10-9 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in regulation and two overtime periods Sunday.

At UCI Sunday, Anteater senior Tanya Taylor scored an unassisted goal at the 11:51 mark as she controlled her dribble in the box and connected on a shot past the keeper to the right post. She also assisted on CoCo Goodson’s goal in the box at the 70:20 mark, as UCI won for the 16th time in the last 17 games.

Senior keeper Danielle de Seriere had two saves in recording her school-record 31st career shutout and 11th of the season.

UCI outshot the Demon Deacons, 7-5, for the game. The Anteaters had to play the last 29 minutes a player down after Zuri Walker received a red card at the 70:41 mark.

“That last goal let us breathe a little,” Goodson says. “We just had to keep battling for the ball,” she adds about UCI finishing the game a player down.

“We wanted to go out and play fast and set the tempo,” fourth-year UCI head coach Scott Juniper says. “We didn’t want to give Wake Forest any space. Offense is the best defense.

“We believe that we can beat anyone,” Juniper says.

Taylor is tied for second in the NCAA Tournament with three assists through the first two matches of the tourney. UCI matches the 2005 Cal State Fullerton team as only the second Big West Conference team to ever reach the third round of the NCAA Tournament. UCI’s 19 wins also match the most in a season in Big West history with the 2006 Titans; the Anteaters are 19-2-2 on the season.