Championship Bound! Women's Soccer Advances on Penalty Kicks

QUINCY, Mass. – Senior Olivia Moore (Salem, Conn.) knocked home a penalty kick in in the bottom of the fifth round to send the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's soccer team to its first Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Game since the 2003 season as the Leopards tied Eastern Nazarene, 1-1, after 110 minutes of play and advanced, 5-4 on kicks in one semifinal.

Seventh-seeded Wentworth (9-8-3) will travel to top-seeded Roger Williams (17-2-3) on Saturday for the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament. A time for this game will be announced on Thursday evening.

A back and forth opening to the contest yielded few chances for either team, however Moore nearly put the Black & Gold on the board in the 25th minute, however her shot hit the post. It wasn't until the 30:38 mark that the Lions broke the stalemate when junior Justine Buchanan (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) sent a pass to senior Jules Speno (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), who fired a shot into the lower left corner for her fifth marker of the season.

Eastern Nazarene clung to the 1-0 lead at the half, while Wentworth held a slim, 8-7 edge on shots.

The Leopards evened the contest at a goal apiece at the 57:19 mark when sophomore Amanda Weinberger (Colchester, Conn.) sent a pass to junior Valeria Zapata (Pawtucket, R.I.) who buried a shot from the right side to the lower left corner.

Both teams had chances to break the tie in the late stages of the contest, however neither would find the back of the net, sending the game into overtime.

In the early stages of the first overtime, Eastern Nazarene was forced to play down a player due to a red card. However, the Lions had a pair of chances to end the game, with one being blocked after a corner kick attempt and the other being saved by senior Beverly Farris (Palmer, Mass.)

Eastern Nazarene, which held a 6-1 shot advantage in the two overtimes, nearly won it in the 107th minute when a header off a corner kick sailed just over the crossbar.

The two teams matched kick for kick for the first two rounds with the Lions' senior Maleesa Santos (Colonie, N.Y.) and sophomore Katherine Lawrence (Marlborough, Conn.) connecting for Eastern Nazarene and sophomore Mary Pastorelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Zapata connecting for Wentworth.

In the third round senior Sam Williams (Forest Hill, Md.) had her attempt stopped by Weinberger, who was inserted as the keeper prior to the shootout round. Junior Jackie McCullough (Niskayuna, N.Y.) stepped up in the bottom of the round and gave the Leopards a 3-2 lead.

The fourth round saw sophomore Hannah Scahill (Quaker Hill, Conn.) tie the round at 3-all before Weinberger put Wentworth ahead, 4-3.

Needing to convert to keep the shootout alive, Buchanan stepped up and tied it at 4-all, setting the stage for Moore's dramatics.

For the match, Farris made six saves while junior Kristen Farley (Westminster, Mass.) made seven saves. Eastern Nazarene held a 22-15 shot advantage for the game and were awarded four of the game's six corner kicks.

Wentworth's only other championship appearance came when the Black & Gold fell at Endicott, 2-1, on November 8, 2003.

Earlier this season the Leopards lost to the Hawks, 2-1, and enter the game 5-15 all-time against the Hawks; 1-2 in conference tournament games.

Eastern Nazarene sits at 9-9-2 and awaits a possible ECAC Tournament berth.