Cincinnati gets past Louisville, moves to top of Big East

Tony Pike threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns and No. 22 Cincinnati remained in the hunt for the Big East title with a 28-20 win over reeling Louisville last night in Kentucky.

The victory gives the Bearcats (8-2, 4-1) a half-game lead over idle West Virginia and No. 21 Pittsburgh in the conference title race. Cincinnati beat the Mountaineers last week and host the Panthers Nov. 22.

Dominick Goodman caught nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown for Cincinnati and John Goebel ran for 77 yards and a score as the Bearcats won the Keg of Nails for the first time since 2002.

Hunter Cantwell threw for 204 yards and a touchdown but couldn't stop the Cardinals (5-5, 1-4) from dropping their third straight for the first time since 1997.

Women's soccer

NCAA Division 1 - Caitlin Hiler and sophomore Brooke Knowlton each had a goal and an assist and Boston College blanked visiting Central Connecticut, 3-0, in a first-round tournament game in Newton.

The Eagles (14-5-2) will meet Northeastern in second-round action tomorrow.

Hiler broke a scoreless tie when she converted a penalty kick with 1:46 left in the first half.

BC put it out of reach early in the second half. Knowlton scored from the center of the 18 box off a feed from Hiler at 47:03 and freshman Stephanie Wirth made it 3-0 in the 57th minute, getting set up by Knowlton.

The Blue Devils (12-7-4) finished with just five shots and one corner kick.

In the second game, Kelly Matthews helped Northeastern eliminate Harvard, 4-2, in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 2-2 tie.

Kirby Anderson, Brenna Matthews, and Gabbi Jatkola scored the first three penalty kicks for NU (13-8-1) and Stephanie Gordon finished with three saves.

Erin Wylie had a goal and an assist for Harvard (10-3-4).

In another NCAA Tournament game, Oklahoma State's Siera Strawser scored in the 55th minute, lifting the Cowgirls (18-1-3) to a 1-0 win over Fairfield (15-5-3).

NCAA Division 2 - Katie Stanley scored in the 44th minute, lifting Bridgeport to a 1-0 win over Merrimack in an East Region first-round game in Brookville, N.Y.

Men's soccer

Atlantic Coast Conference - Maryland took advantage of an own goal by Boston College with 12:35 left to down the Eagles, 1-0, to advance to the conference championship in Cary, N.C.

The Terps (17-3-2) got on the board when Jason Herrick drilled a hard shot on goal that was deflected by keeper Chris Brown. But the ball bounced off BC freshman back Patrick Chin and into the net.

Brown finished with four saves for BC (10-7-2), which was denied a chance to repeat as ACC champion. Virginia edged Wake Forest, 3-2, in two overtimes to join Maryland in tomorrow's final.

Colonial Athletic Association - Brendan Ennis booted home the winner and Northeastern beat UNC-Wilmington, 5-3, in penalty kicks to advance to tomorrow's title game in Wilmington, N.C.

Scott Partridge got his 10th shutout of the season as the Huskies (8-4-8) won in a shootout for the second time in the tournament.

NU will play George Mason, a 5-3 winner over William & Mary, in the final.

Atlantic 10 Conference - Chris Roswess and Dan Lepone scored and Zack Simmons made seven saves to lift Massachusetts to a 2-0 victory over Saint Louis in a semifinal game in Pittsburgh.

Roswess got the Minutemen (10-6-3) on the board in the ninth minute and Lepone made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Simmons did the rest, shutting down the Billikens (11-4-5) the rest of the way.

UMass will meet Dayton, a 2-0 winner over Temple, in tomorrow's championship.

NCAA Division 2 - Jhony Valencia scored two goals - including the winner at 81:55 - and assisted on the third goal to lift UMass-Lowell past Molloy, 3-2, in an NCAA East Region first-round game in Manchester, N.H. The River Hawks will take on Southern New Hampshire today in semifinal play . . . Johan Torstensson scored his first goal of the season with 5:23 left in the second overtime, boosting defending champion Franklin Pierce to a 1-0 win over Le Moyne in a first-round NCAA East Regional game in Brookhaven, N.Y. The Ravens (13-7-2) meet Dowling (16-3-0) in tomorrow's semifinal, a matchup of the last two Division 2 champions.