GOLDEN, Colo. - Alexa Maple was credited with her team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 23rd minute and
Sage Stott evened the match at 2-2 with just six minutes to play before Westminster women's soccer (10-2-5, 7-2-3 RMAC) fell 3-0 in a penalty shootout at No. 20 Colorado School of Mines (12-3-4, 9-2-1 RMAC) in the RMAC Tournament quarterfinal round on Sunday at Stermole Soccer Stadium.
Colorado School of Mines held much of the early running, scoring just 10 minutes in to go ahead by a goal when Reese McDermott took advantage of space deep in the Westminster defensive third and fired a shot into the top corner of
Kelsea Cracroft's net.
The Griffins continued to struggle possessing the ball on the Mines' end of the field but eventually answered back when
Alexa Maple scored directly off of a corner for the second time this season. Maple, who brought her team-leading goal total to eight on the set piece, was targeting the heart of the penalty area and with
Cassidy Orr applying pressure right in the keeper's face, the ball bounced off of Sierra Roth's gloves and into the Orediggers' net to even the match at 1-1.
The Orediggers' would take advantage of a messy penalty area on that same net twenty minutes out of the halftime break as Jordan Barnhart tracked down a loose ball off of a cross into the Griffins' six-yard-box and finished to put Colorado School of Mines back on top, 2-1.
Westminster would apply heavy pressure looking for a second equalizer and finished the second half with a 10-7 advantage in shots. The Griffins, who finished with an 11-7 advantage in shots on net for the match, narrowly missed tying the game at 1-1 on multiple occasions as Roth was forced to make eight saves on the afternoon. Just moments after
Madison Schmidt missed an opportunity right in front of net,
Kara Dickey was able to win possession deep in the offensive third and steered a ball across towards the net.
Sage Stott found herself in perfect position on the edge of the six-yard-box and finished on a header into the top corner to bring the match even at 1-1 with just over six minutes to play in regulation.
Westminster saw the most dangerous offensive possession in the two extra time periods, finishing with a 3-1 advantage in shots, but were unable to find the net as both extra periods ended scoreless.
Having dropped the program's first ever RMAC Championship appearance in penalities just this past spring, Westminster's kick-takers stepped to the spot with ample experience in the penalty shootout.
Aimee Kurfurst put the first Westminster attempt on the goal frame but was denied by Roth.
Madison Schmidt then went wide left on the second Griffins' attempt before
Alexa Maple's hard-struck shot rang the right post on the third Westminster attempt.
Meanwhile, Colorado School of Mines converted on its first two penalty shots and saw Eliot Edwards clinch the Orediggers' spot in the semifinal round with a successful penalty to give Colorado School of Mines a 3-0 shootout win.
Westminster, which was ranked seventh in the last NCAA DII South Central Region rankings, will likely see an end to its postseason run as only the top six teams in the final region rankings receive automatic NCAA Tournament bids.
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