Back to the College Cup!

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford goalkeeper Jane Campbell said that when it comes to a penalty-kick shootout, all the pressure’s on the shooters.

But what happens when the goalkeeper becomes the shooter? That’s what Campbell found out Friday night in the NCAA quarterfinals against Florida. Moments after saving a Florida penalty, Campbell slammed home the winner, sending the Cardinal to the College Cup.

Stanford (20-1-3) and Florida (17-4-2) played to a 2-2 draw before the Cardinal emerged with a 4-3 shootout victory. Now, the Cardinal heads to its sixth College Cup in seven years where it will face Florida State, a 5-0 winner over South Carolina, in Friday’s semifinals in Boca Raton, Fla.

Stanford began practicing penalty kicks in earnest when the NCAA tournament began, but goalkeepers Campbell, Sarah Cox, and Alison Jahansouz have regularly taken penalties off each other in practice. Campbell, for a goalkeeper, is exceptionally skillful with her feet, and when coach Paul Ratcliffe considered his penalty lineup Friday, Campbell seemed a strong choice.

“I thought, ‘Let’s make her the hero,’” Ratcliffe said. “She’d so done much to get us to that point and I think she relished it.”

Said Campbell, “I raised my hand. I felt comfortable doing it.”

Campbell, a sophomore, said penalty kicks are her favorite part of the game, even though this was her first shootout as a collegian and the first for Stanford since 2007.

“I told the team when we were going out for the penalty shootout, ‘I’ll do my job, I need you guys to do yours,’” she said. “The pressure’s not so much on me, the pressure’s on the kicker.”

In the shootout, Florida’s first two attempts failed – first on a shot off the post and then a save by Campbell – while Stanford scored on its first two attempts, by Kendall Romine and Lo’eau LaBonta.

Playing from the lead in the shootout, while shooting second, gave Stanford a huge mental edge, Ratcliffe said.

Florida didn’t miss again, but because of that initial advantage, Stanford was in control even as the Gators made their next three. Stanford had a shot by Chioma Ubogagu saved by Florida’s Taylor Burke before Haley Rosen, who hadn’t played the entire match, converted.

“Paul told me right before to take off my sweats and get ready for the kick,” Rosen said. “I was happy to get that opportunity to help out the team.”

With the PK score at 3-3, but with Stanford kicking last in each round, Campbell stutter-stepped and then shot low inside the left post before being mobbed by teammates. It was only later that she admitted that the going from goalkeeper to shooter caused her heart to pound a little harder.

Stanford took leads on goals by Taylor Uhl and Kendall Romine, but each time Florida answered almost immediately after.

Uhl scored her 10th goal of the season when Ubogagu beat two defenders to the end line and cut a centering pass back that Uhl first-timed at the far post only 3:21 into the match. However, Florida countered with a free kick by Annie Speese into the goalmouth that deflected off the top of a defender’s head and into the net for an own goal.

Fifth-year central defender Kendall Romine, playing in her final home match, put Stanford back on top by heading in Andi Sullivan’s corner in the 75th minute. But, again, the lead didn’t last long. A Florida corner by Speese left Stanford poorly positioned and the ball deflected off the body of the Gators’ Havana Solaun and across the line at 78:46.

Stanford outshot the Gators, 20-9, and had some excellent opportunities to score, including a scorching second-half shot from LaBonta and an overtime header by Uhl. Both were denied by great saves from Burke, who had eight altogether to Campbell’s two.

“They were willing to fight as hard as they could for each other,” Florida coach Becky Burleigh said of her team. “As a coach, what more can you ask?”

This was bound to be a great match, because that’s how their Sept. 12 contest was – won 1-0 by Stanford on a LaBonta penalty kick in overtime. This match certainly lived up to it.

“I feel for Florida because I know how difficult it is when you’re so close,” Ratcliffe said. “But we’re happy to be back. It’s the thing we all look forward to.”

Stanford played in the College Cup for five consecutive seasons (2008-12), winning the title in 2011, losing two finals, and falling twice in the semifinals, including in its most recent appearance.

Stanford will be the lone Pac-12 team in Boca Raton. UCLA, the defending NCAA champ and the only team to beat the Cardinal, was eliminated by visiting Virginia, 2-1, in the quarterfinals.

Stanford has played Florida State twice in the NCAA playoffs, most recently in the 2011 semifinals, won by Stanford 3-0 in Kennesaw, Ga., with a goal and an assist from then-freshman Ubogagu.

The result does snap Stanford's home NCAA tournament winning streak at 24, but it's home NCAA unbeaten streak improves to 25.

“I told the team I’m really proud of them, but we’re not done,” Ratcliffe said. “We want to get after it this weekend, have a big push, and win another national championship. It would be a dream come true for all of us.”

* * *

Stanford wins on penalty kicks, 4-3

Scoring: Stanford -- Taylor Uhl (Chioma Ubogagu), 3:21; Florida -- Own goal, 9:35; Stanford -- Kendall Romine (Andi Sullivan), 74:31; Florida -- Havana Solaun (Annie Speese), 78:46.

Penalty-kick shootout: Florida -- Annie Bobbitt (no good), Annie Speese (no good), Pamela Begic (good), Havana Solaun (good), Lauren Silver (good). Stanford -- Kendall Romine (good), Lo'eau LaBonta (good), Chioma Ubogagu (no good), Haley Rosen (good), Jane Campbell (good).

Records: Stanford 20-1-3, Florida 17-4-2.