November 5, 2014
Wolverines advance to conference finals
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College women's soccer team earned its third straight trip to the finals of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament by advancing past visiting Westminster via a shootout Wednesday afternoon in the tournament semifinals at College Field. Officially, the match counts as a 0-0 double-overtime draw for each team.
However, No. 2 seed Grove City (9-9-2 overall) won a nine-round shootout 7-6 to earn the trip to the championship match.
Freshman forward Lacy Harkrader (Mineral, Va./Louisa County) broke a 6-6 tie in the shootout in the ninth round of the shootout after third-seeded Westminster had missed on its ninth-round shot.
Prior to Harkrader's winner, the Wolverines converted four straight penalty kicks to keep the shootout going. Sophomore Lindsey Reichert (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) scored in the fifth round while freshman Megan Van Kirk (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny) converted in the sixth round. Junior Sammie Wild (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) scored in the seventh round, tying the shootout 5-5. Junior Kristin Thomas (Ellicott City, Md./Chapelgate Christian) sent the shootout into the ninth round by converting her opportunity.
Sophomore Jordyn White (Mars, Pa./Mars) and junior Abby Mathes (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) scored the Wolverines' first two shootout goals.
During the 110 minutes of play, Grove City held a 15-13 edge in shots, including a 6-2 advantage in overtime. Grove City had seven corner kicks while Westminster (14-4-2) had three corners.
Senior goalkeeper Kristi Lathrop (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) stopped five shots for Grove City. Laura Page made seven saves for Westminster.
Grove City earned its first shootout triumph since November 1, 2005, when the Wolverines advanced past host Westminster, 4-2, in the conference semifinals. Wednesday's shootout marked the first to be held at College Field since November 11, 2007. That day, Swarthmore earned a 5-3 decision over Catholic in the finals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament, which Grove City hosted.
Grove City will face top-seeded Thomas More in the championship match Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh. Thomas More blanked Washington & Jefferson in Wednesday's other semifinal, 5-0. The title match will start at 3 p.m. It is the third straight season that Grove City and Thomas More will meet for the conference title.
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