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Pointers Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Falcons
Box Score
Just when it appeared
UW-Stevens Point and UW-River Falls may be heading to a penalty kick
shootout to decide their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
quarterfinal women's soccer match, Amy Piersak made sure it wouldn't
happen.
The UW-River Falls sophomore
defender collected a loose ball 30 yards from net and launched a perfectly
placed ball over the head of Pointers' goalkeeper Meredith DeCaluwe with
1:27 left in double overtime, advancing the Falcons to their fourth
straight conference tournament semifinal. UW-River Falls, the fifth seed
in the tournament and 12-3-3 overall, will play top-seeded UW-Eau Claire
on the Blugolds' home field Friday at 11 a.m. UW-Stout and UW-Oshkosh meet
in the other semifinal.
It was a rare conference
postseason defeat for UW-Stevens Point, which was the six-time defending
conference tournament champion and had won 22 straight matches in the
event. UW-Stevens Point had played in all 13 previous conference
tournament title matches and is now 34-2 all-time in the tournament's
history.
The Pointers are the only
WIAC school ever to play in the NCAA Division III tournament and will have
a streak snapped of eight straight national tournament appearances, which
was the second-longest current streak of any Division III school.
UW-Stevens Point closes its season with an 8-7-2 record. The Pointers also
lost to UW-River Falls 2-1 earlier this year and were 6-0-3 in their last
nine overtime matches.
UW-Stevens Point controlled
much of the match until UW-River Falls caught fire late in the second
overtime. The Falcons had three corner kicks in the extra period and had
half of their eight shots for the entire match in the final two minutes.
UW-River Falls had a shot bounce off the post and another narrowly miss
after a corner kick just before the winning score. The Falcons had a
corner kick with 1:38 left that the Pointers cleared, but Piersak gained
possession in the center of the field and nailed the winning shot into the
upper left corner for her second goal of the season.
UW-Stevens Point had an 18-8
advantage in shots for the match, but managed only five shots on goal. The
Pointers' best scoring opportunity came with 6:15 left in the second half
when Falcons' goalie Hannah Tvedt was pulled out of the net diving after a
loose ball and Pointers' forward Amanda Prawat drilled an open shot off
the crossbar. Prawat had another quality chance with six seconds left in
the first overtime that Tvedt saved to keep the Falcons alive.
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