ANDERSON, S.C. - A pair of penalty kicks lifted fourth-seeded Anderson past No. 5 seed Tusculum after the teams played to a 0-0 tie following two overtimes in quarterfinal action of the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Championship Tuesday afternoon at Trojan Stadium.
Anderson (9-9-1) advances to meet the winner of the No. 1 seed Lenoir-Rhyne/No. 8 Carson-Newman matchup in the tourney semifinals Friday night in Rock Hill. The top-seeded Bears play host to C-N at 7 p.m., Wednesday night in Hickory, N.C.
The Trojans snapped a three-match skid with the win, while defeating Tusculum (10-8-1) for the second time this season. Anderson claimed the regular-season meeting with Tusculum by a 1-0 score on a penalty-kick goal in the 108th minute back on Oct. 15.
Neither team was able to find the net through 110 minutes of play Tuesday afternoon, but sophomore midfielder Krystal Goss and junior forward Joelle Purinton scored on their penalty kick attempts, while Tusculum misfired on its four attempts against Trojan keeper Kaitlyn Neipp.
Neither team scored in the first round of PKs, as Neipp dove to her left to block Claire Duncan's attempt for the Pioneers and AU's Summer Miller missed high with her shot.
Neipp again came up big for Anderson, making another diving stop on Devan McIntyre's shot, but Goss found the left side of the net to give Anderson a 1-0 lead. Nikki Arthur's round three attempt sailed left for Tusculum and Purinton scored to push the Trojans ahead 2-0 with two rounds left. Tusculum's last chance came from Tremicka James, but her attempt was high and the Trojans advanced to the semifinals.
The Trojans threatened with a pair of shots inside the opening 15 minutes, but were unable to capitalize, while Tusculum took six of the nine shots in the opening half, but was unable to put any on goal. James nearly put the Pioneers on the scoreboard with 11:16 remaining in the opening half, but her shot was just wide of the near post.
TC net-minder Williams made the only save of the first half on a shot by the Trojans' Summer Miller with 3:16 remaining. The Pioneers put their first shot on goal with 27:26 left as an attempt by Patience Leonard was stopped by Neipp.
With 19:54 remaining, Anderson was awarded a penalty kick but the try by the Trojans' Adrienne Lough was just high and bounced off the crossbar.
The Pioneers' James answered with a pair of great scoring opportunities, the second of which caromed off the crossbar with 12:20 left and the scoreless tie held through regulation.
In the first overtime period, the Pioneers had the only two shots but Jana Linke's try was saved by Neipp and Kim Brown's attempted went wide. Anderson nearly put home the game-winner midway through the second overtime, but Carrie Settle's shot hit the goalpost with 4:42 left. No further scoring attempts were made the rest of the way, and the match headed to penalty kicks.
The Pioneers finished with a 16-9 advantage in shots and a 9-3 lead in corner kicks. TC freshman keeper Marissa Williams made three saves for Tusculum, including the penalty kick in the second half, while Neipp had four saves.
