On Sunday, No. 3 Stanford women’s soccer defeated No. 2 Arkansas 1-1 (4-2 PK) in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament on the road in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As a result of their win, Stanford will face Notre Dame on Black Friday in a quarterfinal match with a trip to the College Cup on the line.

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BOX SCORE: Stanford at Arkansas-Sunday, November 24th

Arkansas got off to a good start in this match as they had corner kicks at 1:29 and 2:07. Arkansas would have a corner kick again at 17:05 but wouldn’t find the back of the net off that opportunity, either. Stanford would then get a corner kick at 22:38 while Arkansas got a corner kick at 25:13. Neither of those would lead to goals, but Arkansas would soon score thereafter as Bella Field found the bottom left of the goal off an assist from Kelsey Oyler and Avery Wren at 27:54. That gave Arkansas a 1-0 lead. Stanford would get a corner kick at 29:29, but that wouldn’t lead to a goal.

It would remain a 1-0 lead for Arkansas going into halftime. However, Stanford nearly scored right before halftime as Lumi Kostmayer fired a shot into the top center of the goal off her right foot at 45:00. They went to check the video review and upon further inspection, it was ruled that the ball did not cross the goal line before the clock hit zero. That’s the rule in college soccer and so it was ruled no goal. Arkansas caught a break.

Arkansas would get corner kicks at 50:32 and 53:43 but was not able to score off those chances. Before getting a corner kick in the second half, Stanford would score at 55:29 as Charlotte Kohler found the bottom left of the goal off her right foot, tying up the match 1-1. Arkansas nearly scored soon thereafter at 56:51 as a shot was fired to the bottom center of the net, but Stanford goalkeeper Haley Craig was there to get the save. At 66:17, Stanford would fire a shot to the top center of the net, but Arkansas goalkeeper Keegan Smith got the save. It remained tied 1-1.

Stanford would get corner kicks at 76:10 and 84:10, while Arkansas got corner kicks at 78:47, 86:17, and 86:54, but neither team would score off those chances. It remained tied 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, sending the match into overtime.

Overtime in college soccer is played in two ten minutes halves with a golden goal, meaning if a goal is scored, the match is over. If it is tied after the two halves, then it goes into penalty shootout. In this match, neither team scored in overtime, sending it to penalty shootout tied 1-1.

Arkansas was the first team to go in the shootout as Bella Field’s shot to the bottom right of the net was a goal. Andrea Kitahata then answered for Stanford as a shot to the top left of the goal was good. Ava Tankersly then fired a shot to the bottom left of the net for Arkansas, but missed, giving Stanford a chance to go up. Stanford would indeed go up as Lumi Kostmayer found the bottom right of the net to make it 2-1. Taylor Berman then failed to answer for Arkansas as a shot to the bottom right of the net was missed.

Stanford goalkeeper Haley Craig then attempted a penalty shot and made it as she found the top left of the goal to make it 3-1. Kate Doyle then scored for Arkansas to make it 3-2 as she found the bottom center of the net. Up next to the plate would be Shae Harvey, who had a chance to win the match if she scored. Harvey would indeed score as she found the bottom right of the goal to make it a 4-2 penalty shootout win for the Cardinal.

For Stanford, they came, they saw, they conquered. At this point of the season, it’s just about survive and advance and the Cardinal did that. They also showed some resiliency by sticking with it after nearly scoring a goal to tie it up at halftime. Rather than getting discouraged, they stuck with the process and got rewarded in the end.

Stanford’s NCAA tournament quarterfinal match will be on Black Friday against Notre Dame at 2:00 PM PT on ESPN+.

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