Northwestern, St. Scholastica win in exciting fashion to move on to UMAC women's soccer championship
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's soccer tournament had plenty of excitement prior to Thursday with one exciting one-goal quarterfinal Monday and a weather delay that postponed semifinal games by one day.
The action got even more exciting as No. 1 seed University of Northwestern needed two overtimes and a penalty kick opportunity to advance to the title game, while No. 2 College of St. Scholastica saw its offense come to life in order to join the Eagles for a title matchup Saturday.
In the first game of the day, No. 2 St. Scholastica dismantled No. 3 University of Minnesota Morris 3-0 in cold conditions on a field surrounded by snow mounds. The nightcap in St. Paul was just as cold, but without the snow, and full of excitement as Northwestern scored with less than a minute remaining in overtime two on a penalty kick opportunity to end No. 5 Northland College's tournament run.
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Tournament Site |
Semifinal Recap 1 |
Semifinal Recap 2 |
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 5 Northland 3-2 (2OT) |
Box Score |
Earlier in the season Northwestern shutout Northland 2-0 and hoped that things would go the same way in the semifinal. When the game started, it appeared that could be the case – the Eagles' Maddie Leever scored just over two minutes in to give her squad an early lead.
The Eagles commanded the first half taking 20 shots with Megan Jordan of the LumberJills turning away 12 that made it to goal. In the second half, though, the LumberJills managed to even the game as Harley Kinney talled the equalizer in the 68th minute. Less than 11 minutes later, Anna Welch took the lead back for the Eagles and put them on a path to victory.
The LumberJacks had different plans and took advantage of a foul just outside the box as Sasha Voldberg sailed a ball just under the cross bar on a free kick with just over three minutes remaining to force overtime. In the first 10 minutes of overtime, the LumberJills missed on immediate back-to-back shots that hit the post and the cross bar which kept the game going.
Finally, the game ended when a handball inside the box gave Northwestern a penalty kick with 49 seconds remaining in the game. Emily Goeppinger capitalized on the penalty kick beating Jordan to the right side to advance the Eagles to the championship. Jordan finished with a remarkable 25 saves for the Jills.
No. 2 St. Scholastica def. No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 3-0 |
Box Score |
In both previous contests this season, St. Scholastica had emerged victorious and held Minnesota Morris' high-powered offense to just one goal. In the third meeting between the two squads, the Saints' defense came up strong to shut out the Cougars to advance to the title game.
It didn't take long for the Saints to get going as Rachel Dixon scored in the ninth minute of the game on a set up from Hannah Zeis. After 45 minutes, though, the Saints held just a one-goal lead over the Cougars. They came out strong in the second half and added goals from Becca Rancour and Taylor Olson in the 55th and 71st minutes, respectively.
Dixon finished the game with four points notching a goal and an assist, while Roni Rudolph collected the shut out in goal with five saves. For the Cougars, Megan Tschida turned away eight shots in goal. Yu Ito led with two shots on goal.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 30
No. 5 Northland def. No. 4 Martin Luther 1-0 |
Box Score |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 1
No. 1 Northwestern def. No. 5 Northland 3-2 (2OT) |
Box Score |
No. 2 St. Scholastica def. No. 3 Minnesota Morris 3-0 |
Box Score |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 4
No. 2 St. Scholastica AT No. 1 Northwestern, 4:30 p.m. |
Live Stats |
Live Video |
Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $7; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $3; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Women’s SoccerTournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.