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Penn State 3, Michigan 3 (Overtime)
A full 110 minutes of soccer wasn't enough to determine a winner in the final quarterfinal of the night, but Michigan will advance to the semifinals after a victory in a penalty kick tiebreaker. It looked like Michigan was going to be able to hand the Nittany Lions their first loss of the season. The Wolverines battled back from one-goal defecits twice in the game, and took the lead with and 84th minute goal by Therese Heaton. In the final minutes of regulation, Penn State turned on their attack. A Nittany Lion attacker had the ball on the right side of the box when she was fouled by Michigan goalkeeper Megan Tuura with 21 second left. Weimer put away the ensuing penalty kick to send the game into overtime. Penn State stayed on the attack in the first overtime, controlling the ball in their offensive end for the whole ten minutes. The Michigan defense held up and kept the game going into a second overtime. The trend continued in the second overtime, with the Lions controlling the majority of the attack. Neither team was able to score for a sudden victory, so tie breaker penalty kicks were necessary to determine the winner.
Michigan won the penalty kicks 4-2 to advance to Friday's semifinal against Illinois, as every Michigan shooter made her kick, and Tuura came up with one save to seal the victory. Penn State opened the scoring in just the 4th minute when Ali Kreiger scored with assists from Tiffany Weimer and Sheree Gray. Gray carried the ball all the way down the sideline and drove it across the goal where Weimer was waiting. Weimer put the ball on target and goalkeeper Megan Tuura made the initial save, but could not corral the rebound, and Kreiger was able to knock it into the net for the 1-0 lead. The Wolverines made it into the attack in the 31st minute and Melissa Dobbyn beat her defender on the right side of the field and fired a shot to the far upper corner from about 18 yards out past Lions goalkeeper Erin McLeod to tie the score at one. Less than two minutes later, Penn State answered back when Weimer and Allie Long fed Carmalina Moscato across the goal. Moscato was able to roof the ball over Tuura and give Penn State the lead back. Each team had their share of scoring opportunities in the half, but neither could capitalize any more before the whistle blew. Michigan's Therese Heaton drilled home a loose ball in the 50th minute to even the score again at two goals apiece. A defensive tackle by a Penn State player left a bouncing ball in the box, where Heaton got ahold of it and fired it into the upper corner of the net. The two teams battled hard throughout the second half, with vocal crowd adding to atmosphere. McLeod and Tuura each came up big for their respective sides, as neither really dominated. The play was even back and forth. In the 78th minute McLeod had a game saving catch as a shot off the foot of Jamie Artsis went to her right, and McLeod dove hard and got both hands on the ball for the save as the crowd erupted. Less than three minutes later Tuura was called on to make a key save on the other end to stifle a Nittany Lion attack. In the 84th minute a Michigan corner by Judy Coffman crossed in front of the Penn State net, and was redirected to the center of the box. Heaton was there to put away her second goal of the night and to give the Lions a 3-2 lead. In the shootout, Carmelina Moscato scored first for Penn State, but junior midfielder Judy Coffman answered for Michigan. After Jean Rettig's attempt rang off of the post, Heaton took advantage of her chance, burying it high to give U-M a 2-1 edge. Both third shooters coverted, Allie Long for the Nittany Lions and senior midfielder Stephanie Boyles for the Wolverines. Tuura then stoned Sarah Dwyer with a dive to her right, giving Mullholland the chance to clinch it, and she put her shot low to the left side.
The tie was Penn State's first of the season, though they remain undefeated with a 19-0-1 record. Michigan advances to Friday's semifinal to face Illinois at the U-M Varsity Field at 7:30 p.m.
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