MADISON, Wis. – Two of the Northern Athletics Conference's top offenses met in a showdown on Tuesday night, but neither could decipher the other's defenses. The Edgewood College women's soccer team finished regulation in a scoreless tie with Concordia University, but the Eagles outlasted the Falcons 4-3 in a semifinal shootout.

After the Eagles (15-3-1) and Falcons (15-4-1) played 110 minutes without scoring a goal, the game was sent into penalty kicks to see who would advance to the NAC Tournament Championship. With the crowd on their feet, Edgewood College had the first shot. Defender Jenna Mineau blasted a shot to Falcon's goalkeeper Samantha Anacker's left, but the shot struck the post. Concordia Wisconsin's Brittany Klumpp had a chance to put the Falcons up, but her shot was saved by Eagles' goalkeeper Tori Fortney.

Emily Berns was the next Eagle to get a chance, but missed to the left. Falcon's Kate Pawelkiewicz was the first player to net a penalty kick as she slid a score past Fortney's right side. Ashley Alonso , who has converted two penalty kicks this year for the Eagles, was up next and she duplicated her previous results to even the shootout 1-1. After a Concordia Wisconsin miss, only two players remained for each team with the score still tied.

Edgewood College's Kristina Santaga nailed a shot to the upper left corner to give the Eagles their first lead in the shootout followed by Kelly Bolli of Concordia Wisconsin who knotted the score 2-2 after she nailed a shot to the lower left corner.  The Eagles' Emily Dorsett fired a crucial shot over Anacker for the 3-2 lead and with one more miss, the Eagles would advance. The Falcons turned the the NAC's third leading scorer in Lauren Straehler to keep them alive. She fired it past Fortney to extend the shootout to sudden death where each team would go back and forth until one team converted and one team did not.

Olivia Bunz saw the field for the first time, but shook off the cold to strike a shot that found the back of the net, giving the Eagles the lead. All eyes were on Concordia Wisconsin's Ashley Apazeller as she fired a shot to Fortney's right. The sophomore goalkeeper saved her second penalty kick of the night and sent the Eagles to the NAC Tournament Championship.

In the first 110 minutes, Edgewood College and Concordia Wisconsin played a terrific back and forth game. Each team had a few chances to score, but neither could find the back of the net. The Falcons outshot the Eagles 15-7, while Edgewood College placed three of their shots on the frame compared to Concordia's four.

Edgewood College's defense was a stone wall and did not allow the NAC's second ranked scoring offense to fire any successful shots on goal. Erin Peterson played a large part in shutting down Concordia Wisconsin's offense as she was glued to Straehler to stop the midfielder from scoring. The Eagles' Fortney saved all four shots she faced while the Falcon's Anacker grabbed three saves in the net.

With the exhilarating victory, Edgewood College advances to the NAC Tournament Championship where they will face No. 1 Aurora University this Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Aurora, Illinois. Live stats and live video will be provided by Aurora. These links can be found at EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.