The NCAA Tournament is down to the Quarterfinal Round and with Creighton, Maryland and Stanford all advancing, Real Salt Lake’s Academy still has representation deep in the tournament.
Stanford’s Corey Baird, Maryland’s Amar Sejdic and Creighton’s Evan Waldrep all played in the Round of 16 on Saturday and Sunday, with each of their respective teams moving on to the next round on Thursday and Friday.
Stanford 3-1 Ohio State
Forward Jordan Morris scored twice and Baird put the game out of reach in the 88th minute with his third goal of the season as the Cardinal rolled through to the next round. The No. 8 seed in the tournament, Stanford has won both matches by 3-1 scorelines, winning in the second round 3-1 over Santa Clara before topping the Buckeyes on Sunday. Next up will be a meeting with top-seeded Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Maryland 2-1 Notre Dame
Sejdic led both teams with four shots, including a game-high three shots on goal, but the freshman midfielder didn’t figure into the scoring as the Terrapins move on to the Elite Eight. Maryland scored twice in the first 38 minutes and while Notre Dame scored once before halftime to cut the lead in half, the visiting Terps held on to advance in the tournament. No. 10 Maryland scored victories over the 2013 champion Virginia Cavaliers and the 2014 champion Fighting Irish to reach the quarterfinals and will face No. 2 Clemson in the next round.
Creighton 1-0 North Carolina
Finally, Waldrep made a brief first-half appearance for Creighton, who got a late first-half goal and held on to top North Carolina 1-0. The Blue Jays managed just two shots on goal but got the goal they needed to advance. No. 12 Creighton will now face No. 4 Akron in the quarterfinals after a dominating 5-1 win over Drake preceded the narrow victory in the lone Saturday match in the tournament.
The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday and Friday, with the College Cup semifinals and final taking place on Dec. 11 and Dec. 13 in Kansas City’s Sporting Park.
