MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- Women's Soccer came up with one of their best defensive performances of the year when they needed it the most to earn a victory in the NCCAA Regional Championship Final on Wednesday night. The Rams and Freeman played a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation and an additional two periods of overtime before NCU earned a 4-3 victory in penalty kicks.
After 110 minutes of back and forth play between the two teams NCU and Providence needed penalty kicks to help decide who would represent the NCCAA Division II North Central Region at the 2012 NCCAA National Championship. The match was an evenly played affair with NCU earning an 18-14 edge in shots and a 9-8 advantage in shots on goal so it was only fitting that the match would be decided from the PK spot.
NCU and Providence each connected on their first attemps from the penalty spot before senior goal keeper Noelle Stordock (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menonomee Falls) turned away a Freemen kick. NCU converted their second attempt to take a 2-1 lead.
Both teams converted their third shots but NCU missed their fourth attempt and Providence connected to make it 3-3 after four shots.
When Providence missed their fifth attempt, that put sophomore Jen Sargent (Milwaukee, Wis./Heritage Christian) on the spot with a potential National Championship berth on the line. Sargent struck the ball well and converted to send NCU to their fifth straight regional title.
Junior Marissa Dean (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North), freshman Karlee Hoover (Estero, Fla./Estero) and senior Christina Goodman (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) were the other scorers in the PK shootout that clinched the victory for the Rams.
North Central will wrap up their regular season with a pair of weekend Upper Midwest Athletic Conference games on Friday and Saturday. NCU is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. home kickoff with the University of Minnesota-Morris on Friday.
Saturday NCU with host their senior and parents day game at their home and regular season finale verses Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.). The Rams and Storm will kick off at 2:30 p.m.
