Washington U advances past Messiah on PKs
|
| Washington U. celebrates their second ever trip to the NCAA Final Wash U photo by James Byard |
After a 1-1 draw in regulation and two scoreless overtime periods, No. 4 Washington University advanced past the second-ranked Messiah Falcons on penalties, 3-2.
On Saturday, the Bears will play in their second-ever national championship match.
The Falcons got on the board first after a somewhat dominating effort thoughout the first half. In the 40th minute, senior Holly Burgard scored the opening goal off an assist from junior Erin Sollenberger.
After the first ten minutes of the second half, the Bears began to build momentum and pressure the Messiah backline. Junior Katie Chandler equalized in the 73rd minute as she drove home a hard shot to the far post. Sophomore Megan Renkin had the assist on the goal.
Messiah outshot Washington U. 18-13, but both sides had seven that landed on goal. Reflective of Messiah's early offensive pressure, the Falcons had five corner kicks while the Bears had none.
In the penalty kick round, Washington U. junior Lizzy Crist had three saves in the last four PKs to secure the PK win. Messiah's final attempt sailed high, giving the Bears a shot at their first national championship in women's soccer.
Messiah wraps up their season at 20-0-3, allowing only their fourth goal of the season in the semi-final match. Washington University will face the winner of the Centre/Williams match on Saturday for the national title.
