Lincoln – Behind another brace from Eleanor Dale, the fifth-seeded Nebraska soccer team punched its ticket to the Elite Eight with a convincing 4-0 shutout of UC Irvine in a third-round NCAA Tournament match Sunday in front of 1,717 fans at Barbara Hibner Stadium.

Dale, the nation's leading goal scorer, scored two goals to post her 11th brace of the season on a record-breaking day. With her two goals, Dale increased her season total to a school-record 28 goals. Her four points also gave her 61 on the season, tying the Nebraska record for most points in a season.

Abbey Schwarz opened the scoring with a goal at the 13:54 mark off an assist from Gwen Lane. Nebraska made it 2-0 on Dale's first goal 29:28 into the contest. Schwarz assisted Dale's goal, which tied the school record for most goals in a season. The Huskers weren't done, adding a goal with 4:41 remaining in the first half when Haley Peterson found the back of the net off an assist from Lauryn Anglim for her first goal of the season. 

The finisher came at the 86:08 mark, when Dale scored on a free kick just outside the box to become the Nebraska leader for goals in a season.

Schwarz had a goal and an assist to pace the Husker offense, which out-shot UC Irvine, 25-11. Dale had 11 shots herself to match the Anteaters' team total. In net, Sami Hauk had seven saves and Cece Villa stopped one shot as Nebraska posted its seventh shutout of the season.

With the win, Nebraska (17-3-3) advanced to take on either No. 2 seed Stanford or No. 6 seed Mississippi State in the Elite Eight. The Cardinal and Bulldogs play on Sunday afternoon, with the winner advancing to face the Huskers.

UC Irvine, which upset two seeded teams to advance to play Nebraska, ended its season with a 10-8-6 record.

Nebraska was the aggressor in the opening 15 minutes, out-shooting UC Irvine, 5-0. The fifth shot found the back of the net, as Schwarz slotted one into the bottom corner of the net off an assist from Lane at the 13:54 mark.

The Huskers kept up the pressure as Dale had a couple of near misses following the goal. Her first attempt was blocked on a good defensive play and two minutes later, Dale made solid contact on a one-time volley inside the box that sailed just high.

UC Irvine nearly equalized in the 21st minute, but Hauk came up with a big save for Nebraska.

The Huskers made it 2-0 on a fantastic goal in the 30th minute. Dale played a great ball to Schwarz, who then returned the favor with a perfectly placed cross into the box that Dale put home with a superb finish. The goal was Dale’s 27th of the season, tying the school record for goals in a season.

Hauk came up big with another save with 10 minutes left in the half, denying the Anteaters a quality chance for the second time. UC Irvine goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa answered with a nice save on a shot from Sarah Weber that was headed for the back of the net.

Nebraska then took a 3-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the half. Weber won a corner with a great individual effort and Anglim’s corner found Peterson at the back of the net, and Peterson headed it home to send Nebraska into the locker room with a three-goal lead.

The Huskers had 17 shots in the first half, including eight on goal. UC Irvine was limited to five total shots, but four of those were on frame as Hauk made four saves.

Nebraska kept up its pressure with two shots in the first three minutes of the second half. Both teams had great scoring chances less than 30 second apart in the 57th minute, with each goalkeeper turning the opponent away.

In the 59th minute, Dale missed her second goal of the match by inches as her shot just went wide of the far post. Twenty minutes later, Florence Belzile hit the crossbar, narrowly missing a goal.

The Huskers' final goal was set up when Weber drew a foul just outside of the Anteater box. Dale then beat the keeper with a free kick into the side of the net to cap an impressive performance for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska Post-Match Notes

• With the win, Nebraska advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in program history and for the first time since 1999. The win was the Huskers’ 20th all-time NCAA Tournament victory.
• The shutout was Nebraska’s first in the NCAA Tournament since 2016, and was NU’s 14th all-time shutout in 32 postseason matches.
• The Huskers improved to 10-1-2 at Barbara Hibner Stadium this season, marking the first time NU has won 10 home matches in a season since 2001.
• The Huskers won their 17th match of the season, their most wins since the 2013 season.
• Nebraska has scored 11 goals in its first three NCAA Tournament matches. The 11 goals are the most the Huskers have ever scored in a single NCAA Tournament, eclipsing the previous record of eight in both the 1998 and 2001 NCAA Tournaments.
• Nebraska has won two if its three NCAA Tournament matches by multiple goals (5-2 over South Dakota State and 4-0 over UC Irvine). This marks only the second time in the Huskers’ 13 all-time NCAA Tournament matches that Nebraska has posted multiple victories by multiple goals (also two multi-goal victories in the 2001 NCAA Tournament).
• Eleanor Dale scored her nation-leading 27th and 28th goals in the match to post her 11th multi-goal match of the season. With her 28 goals, Dale broke the Nebraska record for goals in a season with Kim Engesser, who previously held the record with 27 goals in 1998.
• Dale’s two goals increased her season total to 61 points. That ties Engesser's school record for most points in a season, as Engesser tallied 61 points in 1998.
• Dale now ranks third in Big Ten history in single-season goals (28) and sixth in single-season points (61). Dale is just the fourth player in Big Ten history to total 60 points in a season.
• Dale had 11 shots against UC Irvine, a school record for an NCAA Tournament match. The previous record had been 10 shots by Lindsay Eddleman against Minnesota in 1996.

NO. 22 JAYS OUTLAST HUSKERS

Lincoln - Alexis Markowski scored a game-high 24 points and Darian White notched her first Husker double-double, but a big first quarter was enough to propel No. 22 Creighton to a 79-74 women's basketball win over Nebraska on Sunday afternoon.

Nebraska suffered its first loss of the season while playing in front of more than 6,600 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena, while Creighton improved to 3-1.

In a tight contest from start to finish, Creighton jumped out in front by hitting 8-of-13 three-pointers in the first quarter. Morgan Maly, who led Creighton with 23 points in the game, hit four threes in the opening period to finish with half of CU's 28 in the period. However the Huskers stayed close with 10 points on 4-of-6 first-quarter shooting from Markowski to trail 28-23 heading to the second period.

Nebraska made adjustments the rest of the way and held CU to just 1-of-15 from long range over the next 30 minutes. However, after going 1-for-2 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter, the Huskers finished just 3-for-21.

Creighton took a 47-40 lead to halftime, and the margin grew as large as 11 late in the third quarter before the Huskers rallied in the fourth. 

White, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, combined with Jaz Shelley for all 11 points in an 11-4 Big Red surge to cut CU's margin to 72-69 with 3:38 left. White was then fouled on a drive with 3:09 remaining but missed both free throws. She got her own rebound on the second miss, but Nebraska was unable to turn the possession into points. 

Creighton made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the victory. Emma Ronsiek helped the Jays with 21 points, while Lauren Jensen put three CU players in double figures with 14 points. Mallory Brake contributed eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds for Creighton.

Freshman Natalie Potts continued her strong play for Nebraska by finishing with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Shelley finished with seven points - all in the fourth quarter.

Graduate guard Maddie Krull pitched in five points while making her first regular-season appearance of the season after missing Nebraska's first three games with a foot injury.

For the game, Nebraska hit 44.8 percent (24-56) of its shots from the floor and 19-of-28 free throws (.679). The Huskers also won the rebounding battle, 41-37. Creighton took the edge in turnovers, 12-10, in a well-played, early season game.

Creighton hit 28-of-66 shots (.424), including 9-for-23 threes (.321), while also sinking 14-of-16 free throws (.875).

Nebraska returns to action on Thanksgiving Day when the Huskers take on Lamar at the St. Pete Showcase. Tip-off with the Cardinals is set for 2:30 p.m. with free live audio on the Huskers Radio Network. A live video stream also will be available from FloSports.

Taylor, Green lead Air Force over Omaha 58-56

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Ethan Taylor scored 16 points to lead Air Force and Corbin Green secured the victory with a layup with 15 seconds left as the Falcons knocked off Omaha 58-56 on Sunday.

Taylor was 6 of 12 shooting, including 2 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 2 for 3 from the line for the Falcons (4-2). Kellan Boylan scored 13 points and added six rebounds. Green scored 11 points, while adding nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Mavericks (2-4) were led by Nick Davis, who recorded 13 points. Tony Osburn added 11 points, six rebounds and two steals for Omaha.

Griffin scores 26 and Wyoming wins 78-71 over Furman

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — Sam Griffin scored 26 points as Wyoming defeated Furman 78-71 at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Griffin was 11 of 19 shooting (4 for 8 from 3-point range) for the Cowboys (4-1). Akuel Kot scored 20 points and Caden Powell delivered 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Wyoming made 12 3-pointers.

JP Pegues finished with 22 points and two steals for the Paladins (3-2). Marcus Foster added 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Furman.