CARLSBAD, Calif. — At one point in the season, it might have been conceivable to imagine an NCAA Championship final featuring Stanford and Florida State. As fate would have it, these teams would wind up meeting in the semifinals, and it lived up to the hype. Three matches went into playoffs simultaneously, but Stanford survived and took down Florida State 3-1, advancing back to the finals with a chance to repeat as NCAA champions.
It doesn’t get more dramatic than three playoffs happening at the same time. That’s what happened as Megha Ganne, Andrea Revuelta, and Meja Örtengren all took their matches into a 19th hole. Revuelta tied her match on the 17th hole while Örtengren knocked down a birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff. All of this was following Ganne and WAGR No. 1 Lotta Woad, who were in an incredible back-and-forth slugfest.
Revuelta was positioned to drop her playoff, but she had an incredible chip onto the green and was able to save par, keeping the match alive. They had to wait, though, as Ganne and Woad went to a 20th hole.
That would be the final hole, as Woad missed a birdie putt that would have put the pressure on Ganne. The junior from Holmdel, N.J., stayed calm under pressure and sank her birdie putt from nearly the same spot as Woad, and the celebration ensued.
Stanford got out to a fast start on the scoreboard thanks to performances from Paula Martín Sampedro and Kelly Xu. Martín Sampedro took down Kaylah Williams 5&3, and once again had a strong back-nine to seal the deal. Xu had a stretch of three-straight hole wins over Sophia Fullbrook, which led to a 5&4 win. For Xu, it is the sixth match-play win for her at the NCAA Championship, one shy of tying an NCAA record.
The Cardinal can become the first repeat NCAA champions since Duke (2005-07) but will have to beat No. 3 Northwestern to do so. The Wildcats beat No. 2 Oregon 3-2 to reach their second all-time finals match. Coverage will begin on Golf Channel at 3 pm.
No. 1 Stanford def. No. 4 Florida State, 3-1
1. Paula Martín Sampedro (STAN) def. Kaylah Williams (FSU), 5&3
2. Megha Ganne (STAN) def. Lottie Woad (FSU), 20 holes
3. Kelly Xu (STAN) def. Sophia Fullbrook (FSU), 5&4
4. Andrea Revuelta (STAN) tied with Mirabel Ting (FSU), thru 19
5. Alexandra Gazzoli (FSU) def. Meja Örtengren (STAN), 19 holes
Order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 2*