Nov. 8, 2013

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Box Score

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Oakland women's soccer team advanced to the title game of the 2013 Horizon League Women's Soccer Championship Friday evening after outlasting Wright State 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout at Milwaukee's Engelmann Field. The Golden Grizzlies will challenge regular-season champion Milwaukee in the title game slated for Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. ET.

Both teams were scoreless through 110 minutes of play, and the contest is officially scored as a tie. Oakland moves to 10-8-2 on the year, while Wright State finishes their season with an 8-5-5 record.

In order, Joan Sieja, Rachel DeLuca, Abigail Haelewyn and Meghan Reynolds all converted their penalty kick attempts, while Kyla Kellermann's third round effort was on frame but was saved by Wright State goalkeeper Brooke McCurdy. Wright State made their second, third and fourth attempts, but their first shot was wide and their final attempt was denied by the crossbar to advance Oakland to the championship game in their first year in the Horizon League.

Oakland's Payj O'Shea had a stellar performance between the pipes, coming up with eight saves, including five in the first half. The shutout was Oakland's eighth of the season and sixth for O'Shea. In the penalty kick round, goalkeeper Stephanie Bukovec helped keep Wright State in check.

"We struggled in the first half with the wind that was there, and we couldn't get a consistent tempo," Oakland interim head coach Dave Morgan. "But after the half, we settled into our game. We had them on their heels and really controlled the tempo as the game went on."

In a game that featured a pair of stingy defensive squads - Oakland had four shutouts during Horizon League play while Wright State tallied five - it was no surprise that both teams were held scoreless during the game. Wright State out-shot Oakland 24-14, but had just an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal.

Oakland looked to get on the board in the 79th minute when defender Aly Rawson put a solid header on the end of a corner kick by Deluca and shook the nets; but the goal was waived off after the Golden Grizzlies were whistled for a foul on the play.

Both teams continued to try and break through, and Oakland put some of its best efforts on Wright State late in the second overtime period. First, in the 106th minute, Jamie Horne forced Wright State's McCurdy to make a diving save to the far post. Then, just a few seconds later, Serena San Cartier put a long-range shot on frame that again called on McCurdy to come up with a stop as she tipped it off the crossbar.

" That was a great shot by Serena," Morgan said. "I thought that ball was dipping in behind their goalkeeper, and she went up and got it.

"She's a quality keeper; there's no doubt about it," Morgan continued, speaking of McCurdy. "We got to a point where were dominating the run of play, and she kept them in it."



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