Seventh-seeded Oklahoma State and eighth-seeded Missouri pulled off more upsets on the second day of the Big 12 Conference tournament in San Antonio, winning semifinal matches Friday to set up a showdown for the title — and an NCAA berth — between the two lowest seeds in the competition.
Missouri, which upset top-seeded Colorado in Thursday's quarterfinals, romped to a three-goal lead, then held off fourth-seeded Nebraska, 3-2. Oklahoma State, which surprised second-seeded Texas on Thursday, edged third-seeded Kansas, 1-0, to reach the final.
There also were upsets in the Big East semifinals, as Boston College surprised fourth-ranked Notre Dame and Villanova got past seventh-ranked West Virginia on penalty kicks.
Tournament finals were set in 24 conferences on Friday, with half of the matchups pitting No. 1 seeds against No. 2 seeds. Among the 1-v-2 matchups is top-ranked North Carolina, which has scored 12 goals in two tournament matches, against No. 9 Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Seven tournament finals will be played Saturday, with 20 more scheduled for Sunday. Three conferences — the Pacific-10, West Coast and Ivy League — do not hold postseason tournaments.
Four more league champions lost their tournament openers on Friday, making for 12 in total. The most recent losers were Hofstra in the Colonial Athletic Association, UW Milwaukee in the Horizon League, Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Western Athletic Conference co-champion Hawaii.
A roundup of Friday's action:
America East Conference: Top-seeded Boston University (12-5-4) will seek its third AEC tournament title in four years in Sunday's final against Maine (13-3-2). The host Terriers topped New Hampshire, 2-1, as Meghann Cook scored both goals, the winner in the 86th minute. Canadian national-teamer Linda Consolante's spot kick sealed Maine's semifinal shootout victory over second-seeded Hartford. The Black Bears outfired the Hawks, 4-2, after a scoreless draw.
Atlantic Coast Conference: Top-ranked North Carolina (20-0-0) romped into the ACC final for the 16th successive season, destroying No. 10 Duke, 6-1. The Tar Heels will face No. 9 Florida State (13-6-1), which topped Maryland, 1-0, on Kelly Rowland's 63rd-minute header. North Carolina scored all seven goals in its match — Duke's tally came on an own goal — as Alyssa Ramsey scored two goals and assisted three more, Lindsay Tarpley added three assists, and freshmen Heather O'Reilly and Elizabeth Guess scored two goals apiece.
Atlantic Sun Conference: Co-champions Florida Atlantic (16-4-0) and Central Florida (16-4-0) will meet in Saturday's final. Lauren Lucena's 71st minute goal delivered host FAU a 2-1 victory over Georgia State. Becca Eshelman tallied twice in UCF's 4-1 triumph over Stetson.
Atlantic-10 Conference: Laura Boland and Shannon Kuhl scored goals to lead top-seeded Dayton (13-5-2) past Xavier and into Saturday's title tilt against host Richmond (11-8-2). The Spiders knocked off second-seeded Fordham, 1-0, on Whitney Sikes' goal early in the second half.
Big East Conference: Fourth-ranked Notre Dame and No. 7 West Virginia were beaten in semifinals at Piscataway, N.J. No. 18 Boston College (15-2-2) handed the Fighting Irish their first loss in Big East tournament history, using goals by Heather Ferron and Beth Totman in a 2-1 victory. Next up is No. 21 Villanova (14-5-2), which topped West Virginia, 5-4, on penalty kicks following a 0-0 tie. Wildcats goalkeeper Chrissy Dolan stopped Karrie Hutchins' shot, the only penalty kick that didn't find the net.
Big South Conference: UNC Asheville (11-6-2) and host High Point (10-9-0) will meet in Saturday's final. Hilary McKay scored two goals in Asheville's 3-0 romp over Charleston Southern. Tanya Wolf had a goal and an assist to lead High Point past Birmingham Southern, 3-1.
Big Ten Conference: Illinois (15-3-2) and Michigan (9-6-6) earned shutout wins to reach Sunday's final at Madison, Wis. The Illini notched their fifth successive shutout and 12th of the season in beating Purdue, 2-0. Tara Hurless assisted second-half goals by Meghan Kolze and Jessica Bayne. Michigan topped Wisconsin, 1-0, on Theresa Dwyer's goal from a tight angle.
Big 12 Conference: Oklahoma State (14-4-3) and Missouri (11-9-1) continued improbable runs to the final at San Antonio. Melissa Peabody scored two goals and assisted a third as Mizzou held off fourth-seeded Nebraska, 3-2, after taking a three-goal lead by the 57th minute. Cassie Lewis scored from a free kick in the 38th minute to carry Oklahoma State past third-seeded Kansas, 1-0.
Big West Conference: No. 20 Cal Poly (17-1-2) earned its fifth straight shutout and UC Santa Barbara (11-5-4) held on in a wild affair to reach the final at Irvine, Calif. Kelsey Carroll and Erin Martin scored goals to lead Cal Poly past host UC Irvine, 2-0. Jennifer Borcich scored two goals from Randi Johns crosses as UCSB held off UC Riverside, 3-2.
Colonial Athletic Association: Taline Tahmassian's penalty kick late in the first half was the difference for William & Mary (13-6-2), which knocked off CAA champ Hofstra, 1-0, to reach Sunday's final against Virginia Commonwealth (10-5-4). VCU goalkeeper Chrissy Lloyd saved Kristin Portell's penalty kick and the Rams outfired George Mason, 4-3, in a shootout following a 0-0 draw.
Horizon League: Detroit-Mercy pulled off a huge upset of UW Milwaukee to reach the final against host Loyola-Chicago (9-10-1), the lowest seed in the tournament. Detroit beat the top seed, 1-0, in overtime as Allison Epple headed home Mandi Jasky's free kick in the 105th minute. Mary Dale and Lauren Vineyard each had a goal and assist as Loyola upset third-seeded UW Green Bay, 4-2.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Top seed Loyola, Md. (11-8-1) and second-seeded Niagara (8-7-3) reached the Sunday's title game at Lawrenceville, N.J. Carolyn Kennington tied a school mark with her 11th goal of the season and assisted three more — two by Courtney Arikian — as Loyola dominated host Rider, 4-2. Emily Montgomery scored from an Allie Sahlen cross in the sixth minute to lead Niagara past Fairfield, 1-0. Loyola beat Niagara, 2-1, in a MAAC regular-season finale last Sunday.
Mid-American Conference: Eighth-seeded Bowling Green (8-11-3) advanced to Sunday's final, where it will face host Western Michigan. Bowling Green outfired Central Michigan on penalties, 4-3, following a scoreless draw. Stephanie Johnson's 85th-minute goal off a corner kick carried host Western Michigan (12-7-1) past Ohio University, 2-1.
Mid-Continent Conference: Marianne Samdal's overtime goal lifted dominant Oakland (14-4-1) past Western Illinois, 1-0, and into its fourth straight Mid-Con final. Next up for the Golden Grizzlies is host Oral Roberts (12-5-2), which outfired Centenary, 4-1, on penalties following a 1-1 tie.
Missouri Valley Conference: Lulu Quigley headed home Chelsea Mackenzie's 106th-minute free kick to lead Creighton (11-6-3) past top-seeded Drake, 1-0, at Maryland Heights, Mo. The Jays will take on the other MVC co-champion, Illinois State (11-5-2), in Sunday's final. Katie Lang's 14th-minute header carried ISU past Southwest Missouri State, 1-0.
Northeast Conference: Top-seeded Central Connecticut State overcame a two-goal deficit, reaching the title game with a 3-2 victory over Monmouth at Moon Township, Pa. Jessica McCavanagh scored the winner in the 76th minute. Sacred Heart (10-5-3) topped Long Island, 1-0, as Lisa Burbige knocked home the rebound after Paula Pineada hit the crossbar from 18 yards.
Ohio Valley Conference: Top-seeded Samford (12-4-4) survived penalty kicks to reach the OVC final in its first year in the conference. The host Bulldogs outshot Southeast Missouri State, 4-1, in the shootout following a scoreless tie. Eastern Illinois (11-5-4), which has captured three of the four previous OVC tournaments, topped Jacksonville State, 1-0, as Sharyne Connell scored off a corner kick early in the second half.
Patriot League: Regular-season co-champions American (10-7-1) and Navy (16-4-1) advanced to Sunday's final with one-goal victories at Washington. Nicole Waggoner came off the bench to score two goals, including the 87th-minute winner, to lead Navy past Colgate, 3-2. Christina Gonzalez's 24th-minute goal was enough for American to get past Army, 1-0.
Southeastern Conference: No. 13 Florida and No. 16 Tennessee advanced to the SEC final at Orange Beach, Ala. The third-seeded Gators (16-3-1) romped, 4-1, over Georgia as Megan McMillan scored twice, Robin Fulton added a goal and an assist, and Dena Floyd assisted two goals. Top-seeded Tennessee (15-4-1) blanked Mississippi, 2-0, as Canadian national-teamer Rhian Wilkinson scored a goal and assisted one by Ali Christoph.
Southern Conference: Top-seeded Furman (15-4-2) and second-seeded UNC Greensboro (13-6-2) scored shutout wins to reach Sunday's final. Danielle Petro scored twice as Furman beat UT Chattanooga, 3-0, to extend its unbeaten streak to 14 games and its winning streak at UNCG's stadium to 11 matches. The host Spartans edged Appalachian State, 1-0, on Meghan Kepley's goal just before halftime.
Southland Conference: Kendra Oney's 87th-minute goal lifted top-seeded Southeastern Louisiana past UL Monroe, 1-0, and into Sunday's final at Natchitoches, La. Kendra Cannon scored both goals in Stephen F. Austin's 2-0 victory over Texas State in the other semifinal.
Southwestern Athletic Conference: Abria Queen scored five goals and host Alabama A&M routed Prairie View A&M, 7-0. Grambling State edged Mississippi Valley State, 1-0, as Brittany Dorsey tallied in the 16th minute. The first-year conference does not have an automatic NCAA berth and Sunday's winner isn't expected to receive an at-large bid.
Sun Belt Conference: Marilyn Marin scored her 23rd goal of the season and added a pair of assists as North Texas (15-5-1) routed Middle Tennessee State, 4-0, to earn a rematch with Sun Belt champ Denver in Saturday's final. North Texas won the regular-season meeting, 3-2. Jenni Harris' 27th-minute goal lifted Denver past host Western Kentucky, 1-0.
Western Athletic Conference: Kim Harvey's fourth hat trick of the season led top-seeded SMU (16-3-1) past UTEP, 3-0, and into Saturday's final against Rice (11-7-1). Harvey's third goal, a penalty kick, gives her 26 for the season. Rice knocked off co-champion Hawaii, 4-1, as Sarah Yoder scored two goals and added an assist.
Pacific-10 Conference: Second-ranked UCLA (15-1-3) nailed down the conference title outright with a 3-1 win at Oregon State as Bristyn Davis, Lindsay Greco and Sarah-Gayle Swanson scored goals. The Bruins had clinched a share of the championship and the Pac-10's automatic NCAA berth with a victory last weekend over USC.