Photo Gallery vs. Fort LewisSAN ANGELO, Texas – The St. Edward's Women's Soccer team competed in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament Friday against #25 Fort Lewis at the Angelo State Soccer Field. After a scoreless regulation and overtime, the Hilltoppers bested the Skyhawks, 4-3 in a shootout to advance to the NCAA Round of 32.
Both teams battled in the midfield for the first 10 minutes with Fort Lewis having the one and only shot attempt.
GRACEN JACKS found some open space 25 yards out from goal and fired a shot on goal, but the Skyhawks keeper corralled the shot. Just minutes later, St. Edward's pressed Fort Lewis again as
JENNIFER BOUDREAU took a ball from the St. Edward's box to the Skyhawk corner to give the Hilltoppers their first cornerkick of the game. After a scramble in the box,
KELLY ANDRUS brought the ball down the left side and had a shot attempt that just missed the far left post.
After halftime, the Skyhawks were awarded a free kick just outside the box. The shot attempt curled just over the Hilltopper wall, but rattled the left post before
MICKEY CAPPELLO cleared the ball. St. Edward's would win multiple corners in the following minutes, but couldn't convert any of them into the elusive first goal.
In the 78
th minute, the Skyhawks would dribble just inside the box via the right side. A shot was rifled towards goal by Alicia Sanchez, but
LORRIE SANTOY was equal to the task. Several minutes later Fort Lewis was awarded a corner that found it's way to the feet of Sanchez who turned quickly to rifle a shot from five yards out. Santoy once again came huge as she dove just in time to knock the shot attempt outside for
KATIE DONAHUE to clear it from danger.
As the game went into overtime, each team denied one another of getting any momentum offensively. Boudreau once again dribbled through traffic with 30 seconds to play and fired a shot from the left side of the box that went just wide of the left post. The second overtime yielded very little offensive activity and the two teams headed to penalty kicks.
VALENCIA MOBLEY gave the Hilltoppers a quick 1-0 lead and shortly after Santoy made a terrific diving save to give the Hilltoppers the momentum. Each team would make their next three kicks as
SABRINA CONE,
GRACE MCSWAIN and
ELIN ROSENBERG CEMAZAR would make their attempts. Fort Lewis keeper Caitlyn Espinosa would stop the Hilltoppers fifth attempt, but Santoy had an opportunity to put the game away in the fifth frame. She made a beautiful read on the shot and pushed it to the outside of goal. With hands held high and cheers coming from all directions, Santoy was greeted by her teammates in the middle of the field for what was the start of a wild celebration for the 4-3 victory for the Hilltoppers.
St. Edward's moves on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will face Angelo State this Sunday at 2:00 pm. Live stats and live video will be available via the Ram Belle Athletic Website.
