ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Maryville women's soccer team is going to the NCAA Tournament Third Round for the first time in program history after a 5-4 penalty kick shootout victory over the No. 8-seeded Cedarville Yellowjackets.
Sophia Sulawske was the hero the Saints needed, grabbing two crucial saves in penalties while freshman
Sophia Carter nailed the game winning penalty.
The Saints face the winner of No. 3-seeded Ashland and No. 7-seeded Missouri-St. Louis. If the Tritons win, the Saints will play host for the "regional final," while if Ashland wins the Saints will head east to Ashland, Ohio.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless 90 minutes of play, that saw the Yellowjackets outshoot the Saints 18-10, the battle went into overtime. Through two ten-minute overtime periods, the Saints had shots from
Anne van Son and
Reese Cannon narrowly miss the mark. The defense thwarted five Cedarville attempts to force penalties.
Through the traditional five rounds of penalties;
Allison Estanich,
Helene Braren,
Isabella Lobley and
Emily Doane were all successful, with Cedarville also going 4-for-5 to force extra kicks in the already three-hour long match
In the sixth round, a Saints miss lined up the potential game decider, but Cedarville hammered it off the crossbar. Misses continued from there as Maryville missed one high and Sulawske made her second save of PKs to keep it 4-4. To start the eighth round, Carter came in from there, taking the first PK of her career and blasting it bar down for the 5-4 advantage.
The moment arrived at the feet of Sulawske, who dove perfectly to her right for the walk off save.
UP NEXT
The Saints face the winner of No. 3-seeded Ashland and No. 7-seeded Missouri-St. Louis. If the Tritons win, the Saints will play host for the "regional final," while if Ashland wins the Saints will head east to Ashland, Ohio.
