Loyola outlasts Milwaukee in PKs to win women's soccer title
Nov. 11, 2007
(#2 seed) Loyola 2, (#1 seed) Milwaukee 2 (Loyola 3-2 in PKs) Box ScoreMilwaukee, Wis. - Second-seeded Loyola rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the final 13 minutes of regulation and won the Horizon League Championship for the second consecutive year. The Ramblers scored two late goals to force overtime and edged top-seeded Milwaukee 3-2 in penalty kicks to advance to the NCAA Championship.
After an evenly-played and scoreless first half, Milwaukee's Sarah Talbert put the Panthers on the board at 59:39. Nicole Hirsch set up the initial strike to give UWM the one-goal lead. The margin swelled to 2-0 four minutes later when Hirsch's shot deflected off a Loyola defender and past Rambler netminder Colleen Dougherty into the net.
Milwaukee was in command at 2-0 but Loyola rallied with two goals in a five-minute span of their own.
Rambler forward Cynthia Morote-Ariza set up both markers. Her diagonal pass found Alexia Murray for the visitors' first goal at the 76:35 mark, cutting the deficit in half. Loyola maintained the pressure offensively, with Julie Colhoff heading home a Morote-Ariza pass for her first goal of the season with 8:05 remaining.
Both teams had several scoring chances in each overtime session but could not hit the net, forcing penalty kicks to decide the tournament champion. Ironically, both previous times, UWM emerged victorious, defeating Butler in 1997 and Detroit in 2005.
Loyola coach Frank Mateus made a change for the shootout, replacing Dougherty with senior Lauren Sommer. Sommer had played only 24 minutes in two relief appearances since mid-September, but made two saves against the Panthers while Milwaukee missed the net with two other attempts.
Loyola took an early advantage in PKs when Milwaukee's Joanna Severson had her shot ring off the left upright before the Ramblers' Laura Heidenreich beat Kane to the left side. Milwaukee leveled the score in the second inning as Nicole Sperl hit the net, while Kane stopped Jackie Vera's attempt. UWM's Pam Shipway and Loyola's Heather Lau each scored in the next round to keep the shootout score even.
The Panthers' Erin DeYoung and Loyola's Amy Lomas each missed the net in round four, setting up a sudden-victory environment. Sommer stopped UWM's Louise Vraney, but Milwaukee got a reprieve when Murray's shot bounced off the crossbar. Panther coach Mike Moynihan selected Kane to take her team's sixth shot, but Sommer came up big again. When Laura Trevillian's attempt hit the back of the net, the Rambler bench raced onto the field in celebration.
The even play was apparent in the final stats, with Loyola owning a 23-22 edge in shots prior to PKs. Dougherty stopped eight shots, with Kane logging nine saves in 110 minutes.
Morote-Ariza was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after assisting on both of Loyola's goals in regulation. Morote-Ariza, the League's Player of the Year, leads the circuit in goals (15), assists (nine) and points (43).
Loyola earned the League's automatic entry into the NCAA Championship. The 64-team field will be announced Monday evening on ESPNEWS.
2007 Horizon League Women's Soccer Championship All-Tournament TeamCarrie Twyman, Butler Abbie Kaul, ButlerJess Rooma, Wright StateSarah Teegarden, MilwaukeeAmanda Winn, MilwaukeePam Shipway, MilwaukeeHeather Roadhouse, MilwaukeeHeather Lau, LoyolaJackie Vera, LoyolaKatie Heidenreich, LoyolaMVP: Cynthia Morote-Ariza, Loyola
