GROVE CITY, Pa. – The third-seeded Westminster College women's soccer team fell at top-seeded Grove City College in a 3-1 penalty-kick shootout after a 1-1 tie in double overtime in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship match Saturday afternoon.
Westminster (15-5-1) went ahead first, 1-0, in the 22
nd minute after an own goal by Grove City (16-3-1). The score stayed the same at halftime.
In the second half, Westminster held the Wolverines scoreless until the last minute of play. Grove City's Brooke Thomas found the back of the net with 25 seconds left to tie the game at one to force overtime. The Titans outshot the Wolverines, 4-3, in the first overtime, but neither team scored. In the second overtime, Westminster again led in shots (2-1), however, each team was held scoreless and the game went into a deciding penalty-kick shootout.
In the shootout, senior
Keely Birsic (North Ridgeville, OH / Elyria Catholic) was unsuccessful on the Titans' first penalty kick. Grove City made its first attempt courtesy of Lizzy Swoboda. First-year Regan Olson (Delaware, OH / Rutherford B. Hayes) and sophomore
Marissa Stenglein (Pittsburgh, PA / Baldwin) missed their next respective attempts for Westminster, while Grove City made one of the next two (Michaela Burke had the successful attempt). The Wolverines led 2-0 in the shootout. Titan first-year
Kierra Taylor (East Liverpool, OH / Beaver Local) made her attempt (2-1), however, Grove City made the ensuing kick, off the foot of Maggie Williams, to win the shootout, 3-1.
Birsic totaled three shots and two shots on goal. Junior
Kayla Trozzi (Monroeville, PA / Gateway) registered two shots and two shots on goal. Titan first-year goalkeeper
Camille Holzschuh (Youngstown, OH / Boardman) finished with five saves in a complete-game effort. Grove City led in shots (26-11) and corner kicks (10-5).
Team selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Monday, November 5 at 1:30 p.m. (EST) with an online selection show available at ncaa.com. First and second round matchups are scheduled for Friday-Sunday, November 9-11.
