Trinity and UCC, who, between them, have dominated the Inter-varsities in recent years, remain on course for a repeat of their meeting in last year's final in Belfast after they reached the last four of this year's Chilean Cup in Dublin yesterday.
Trinity's passage to the semi-finals was, however, considerably smoother than that of their Munster rivals, who they beat in extra time in last year's decider. The Dublin students followed up Tuesdays' wins over Queens and DCU with an equally comfortable 4-0 victory over their old pals UCD.
Goals from Emma Dowling and Linda Caulfield gave Trinity a 2-0 win over UCG in the afternoon, helping them clinch top spot in Pool A ahead of Queens, who pipped UCG to a place in the semi-finals by beating DCU 3-1 in their final pool game.
UCC had Irish under-21 captain Johanna Hyland to thank for boosting their hopes of a semi-final place when she converted a late penalty stroke against the University of Limerick, giving the Cork side a 2-1 win.
The University of Ulster's 10-0 drubbing of RCSI in the morning secured their place in the last four, leaving UCC needing to beat the same team to join them.