The Clemson women’s soccer team advanced to the Elite 8 Round of the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night thanks to beating No. 3 seed UCLA in a shootout in Cary, N.C.

After the game remained tied, 1-1, through regulation and two overtime periods, the No. 14 seeded Tigers beat the Bruins 6-5 in the shootout round.

The Tigers took a 6-5 lead in the shootout when Sami Meredith got the ball past UCLA keeper Lauren Brzykcy. Then Clemson keeper Hensley Hancuff sealed the victory with a save on Madelyn Desiano’s attempt to keep the match going.

The win was even sweeter for the Tigers because it came on head coach Eddie Radwanski’s birthday.

Meredith flicked in the opening goal of the match off of a great pass from Maliah Morris at the 52:22 mark of the match. That gave Clemson a 1-0 lead at the time.

However, UCLA forced overtime with a little more than three minutes left in the match. Olivia Athens scored the tying goal at the 86:53 mark thanks to a nice pass from Reilyn Turner.

The Bruins outshot Clemson 26-14 in regulation and the two overtime periods, including a 12-4 edge on goal. Tigers keeper Hancuff had nine saves in the 110 minutes before they went to penalty kicks.

—photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications

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