Nov. 11, 2007

Box Score

DENVER, COLO. - After No. 4-ranked Incarnate Word and Metro State fought to a 2-2 tie after 110 minutes, Sarah Graef converted the deciding penalty kick to lift the Cardinals past the Roadrunners in the second round of the women's soccer NCAA Tournament, Sunday afternoon at Auraria Field.

Incarnate Word now advances to the NCAA third round, where it will play Central Oklahoma, a 2-1 overtime winner over the region's No. 1-seed St. Edward's.

"I am very excited to advance," said Incarnate Word head coach Tina Patterson. "We are a very young team and I could not be more proud of them. Our defense has been our stability all year, very organized. Today their effort showed what they are capable of as Metro State is a tremendous team. I am thankful to be on the winning end."

With the score 2-2 after regulation and two overtimes, the two teams advanced to penalty kicks. After the first five kicks, each team had made three so it went to a sudden death after the same number of kicks. On the sixth kick, Graef made hers, while Metro State missed and Incarnate Word advanced.

"Sarah Graef is a senior and she really stepped it up today," said Patterson. "That is the leadership we needed."

Incarnate Word went up 1-0 in the 10th minute of the game on a Graef goal, then played solid defense throughout the game. Metro State rallied to tie it up in the 75th minute as Jaclyn Percy dribbled down the left side of the field and shot it past Cardinal goalkeeper Ashton Caffrey. However, UIW responded less than a minute later as Sarah Hernandez scored her 18th goal of the season off a pass from Lianah Flores. The Cardinals held the narrow 2-1 advantage until the 85th minute when Becca Mays put it in to tie the score.

"This is the beauty of soccer," said Roadrunner head coach Danny Sanchez. "I am very proud of the girls. There is no shame in Incarnate Word advancing. They are a very good team. We could have hung our heads many times today but we got the equalizer and forced the overtime. I am proud of our effort."

The Roadrunners had a solid opportunity to get a goal in the first half as the Cardinals fouled a Metro State player in the box, but Mays missed a penalty kick wide with less than five minutes to go in the period.

Metro State held a narrow 13-12 shots advantage for the game, while Rachel Zollner made five saves in goal. The Roadrunners held a 10-1 advantage on corner kicks.

With the win, Incarnate Word moves to 17-2-2 overall, while Metro State's season ends at 16-4-2 overall.