MADISON, Wis. – Following a dramatic double overtime tie, 1-1, the No. 2 seed Eagles fell in a penalty kick shootout, 4-2, and were eliminated in the NACC tournament semifinal by No. 3 seed Dominican on Tuesday night.
It was a physical bout from the get-go in a battle between two teams who refused to see their seasons end short of a conference championship. In a match that featured 19 fouls and 17 combined shots, it was penalty kicks that decided the fate of both.
Dominican (13-5-1) went first and converted three of their first four kicks to put the Eagles in a 3-1 hole. On the subsequent attempt, senior Emily Skaer kept the Eagles alive, but it was short lived as the Stars' Alexis Hoskins converted the game winner on the next kick. The Stars will move on to face MSOE on the road for the NACC tournament championship.
The Eagles (13-5-2), who finished the season with two straight ties, survived a number of quality looks by the Stars down the stretch after the Stars' leading scorer, Josseline Williams, tied it up in the 49th minute. Three of Eagle goalkeeper Sabelle Seabrook's five saves came in the final 19 minutes of regulation to force overtime. The Eagles attempted the game's only three shots over both overtimes, but were outshot, 12-5, on the match.
All five Eagle shots were attempted by different players with senior Stevie Grable's free kick attempt representing the Eagles' best chance in overtime after it grazed off the top of the crossbar.
Eagle senior Taylor Pampuch scored in the 41st minute and sparked life in a stagnant first half that saw the first shot attempted 23 minutes into the match. It was the first time in nine matches this season the Eagles didn't come away with the win after Pampuch either scored or assisted.
The Eagles dropped to 9-8-3 in the all-time series to Dominican and fell short in avenging an earlier 2-0 defeat this season.
Skaer will end as the Eagles' top scorer (10 goals) this season for an Eagle team that finished top-3 in the NACC for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
