CARLSBAD, Calif. — High-seeded Stanford within the NCAA Girls’s Golf Championships noticed Meja Ortengren win her second leadoff match and senior Megha Ngannou win Tuesday’s semifinals, ending a dream run in Jap Michigan and sending the Cardinal to their third straight title match.
Stanford will play No. 2 Southern California on Wednesday at La Costa Resort. Each are proud applications searching for their fourth NCAA title.
Jap Michigan, ranked No. 227 when it employed Josh Brewer two years in the past, made a powerful NCAA debut when the Eagles fought again on the ultimate day of qualifying to earn a spot among the many eight groups in match play, defeating particular person champion Farrah O’Keefe of Texas within the quarterfinals.
Nevertheless, they have been no match for the highly effective Cardinal.
Twin sisters Jasmine and Janae Leobao, who grew up about 10 minutes away from Oceanside, every took the lead early on the again 9. Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta beat Jasmine 2-and-1 with three holes remaining, and Paula Martin Sampredo went 1-up over Janae on the seventeenth gap, deciding the match for Stanford.
Ngannou, the U.S. Girls’s Newbie champion, edged Bayok Suktam 4-3.
USC defeated Duke 3-2 within the quarterfinals and missed the seventeenth gap in all 5 video games, however was by no means significantly challenged by Arkansas.
In Tuesday’s second match, Katherine Park defeated Abby Schutte 3-2, and Jasmine Ku defeated Regan Zibilski 3-2 within the leadoff match. Elise Lee, who was within the anchor place, by no means trailed, going 3-up on the flip and clinching the championship with a 5-and-3 victory over Natalie Bronien.
Arkansas’ solely win got here from Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Newbie Champion Maria Jose Marin, who received each matches. Arkansas simply defeated Oklahoma State within the quarterfinals.
Stanford College was on the prime of the medal vary with 22 beneath par. USC took second place at 9 beneath par, one among solely two groups beneath par in La Costa’s swirling winds.
“Most likely the most effective group I’ve ever seen,” Brewer mentioned of the Cardinal.
Ngannou mentioned Stanford entered match play trying to enhance to 15-0 by all three rounds.
“While you strategy it with that form of positivity, it brings a unique form of focus,” she mentioned.
The rating exhibits that Stanford’s 5-0 win over Pepperdine and 5-0 win over Jap Michigan are near victory after some video games have been inconclusive. All matches finish when a group reaches three factors.
Jasmine Leobao had the right second Tuesday with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th gap to ship Jap Michigan into the semifinals. The Eagles have stopped puttingts to this point this event.
“I believe the dream needed to finish ultimately,” Brewer mentioned. “There’s most likely by no means been a group extra excited to obtain the semifinalist trophy. They honestly believed they may do one thing particular. It was an incredible run.”
Stanford will likely be searching for its third NCAA title up to now 5 years. The Trojans have by no means received an NCAA championship in match play. They misplaced to Wake Forest in 2023. USC final received the NCAA title in 2013, dropping 21 photographs to Duke.
“They’ve quite a lot of nice gamers,” Stanford coach Ann Walker mentioned. “I am positive the battle will likely be determined. I do not know who will come out on prime, however I do know we’ll battle.”
