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CINCINNATI - It was heartbreak for the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship as the fifth-seeded Bearcats fell in penalty kicks to fourth-seeded USF, 4-3, following a match that ended in a scoreless draw. The match, being played at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn., saw the Bearcats and Bulls tie for the second time in two weeks and the third match in a row in the series, but the loss in the shoot-out eliminated the Bearcats from the tournament with the Bulls advancing to the semifinals Friday night.
With the result, UC's record slipped to 11-5-4 on the year while USF saw its record slide to 12-3-3. The shoot-out loss, which came in the sixth round of attempts, marked the first time in three conference tournament shoot-outs that UC did not come out on top with the last victory being a 4-2 decision over the Bulls in the final of the American tournament last season.
// PENALTY KICK SUMMARY
#1 - The Bearcats were the first to step to the spot with Gavorski taking the first crack at Haley Johnson, who came in just for the PK session. Gavorski stepped up and sent a shot to the lower right side where Johnson guessed correctly, diving that way and making the save. With USF up, UC sent in Kaleigh Piscioneri to tend the goal. In the Bulls' first attempt, Grace Adams stepped up and put the ball into the lower right corner to give USF the lead.
USF leads, 1-0
#2 - Cassie Wheldon was the next Bearcat up and she coolly stepped up and sent a soft shot into the left past the keeper to knot things at 1-1. But, Trudi Carter put the Bulls back in front as her shot went high, nicking the underside of the cross bar and bouncing into the goal.
USF leads, 2-1
#3 - Bailey Wilson stepped for the third attempt and sent a hard shot to the lower right side of the keeper, but Johnson guessed correctly once again and kept Wilson's shot out of the netting. That was followed by Andrea Hauksdottir making it 3-1 as she went to the right of Piscioneri, who guessed correctly, but could not get there in time to halt the shot.
USF leads, 3-1
#4 - Needing a score to stay alive, Cotleur had her turn and made it count as she snuck her shot under the diving keeper to pull one back for the Bearcats. With the conference rookie of the year up next, Piscioneri made a huge save to extend the shoot-out as Evelyne Viens hit a hard shot to the left side of goal where Piscioneri was waiting to turn the shot away.
USF leads, 3-2
#5 - Again facing elimination, the Bearcats needed another goal and got just that as Pavlika sent a soft shot calmly into the lower left corner to knot the shoot-out at three all. Needing just one conversion to win, USF sent Yasmine Hall to the spot where she fired high over the cross bar to give the Bearcats new life.
Shoot-out tied, 3-3
#6 - The sixth round proved to be the final round of play, which ended in heartbreak for the Bearcats. Tiffany Huber was called upon to take the shot and looked to have the keeper beat to her left, but pushed the ball just wide of the post. USF, once again needing just one goal to win, sent Leticia Skeete to the spot. Skeete hit a hard shot to Piscioneri's right with the Bearcat guessing correctly and getting her hands on the shot. Despite that, the ball deflected off her hands, hit the right post and fell to the ground behind an outstretched Piscioneri before it rolled across the line, giving USF the victory and advancement in the tournament.
USF wins, 4-3
// MATCH SUMMARY
The first half, the Bearcats took control of the pace of play early on and seemed to keep the ball in the attacking third in the opening minutes. Then, in the 12', Jaycie Brown started to go to work. Brown collected a pass near the midfield stripe and proceed to weave through traffic and outrun the defense into the box where she sent a hard, low liner on goal that Cat Elliott saved. With the ball rolling free, Cotleur took a crack, but it went wide. Then, less than one minute later, Brown was back at it as a long throw from Pavlika came to Brown who ripped a shot that was blocked by the defense. The rebound came right back to the junior who had another go, but it sailed high. The final solid attempt in the first half game in the 35' as Couperus stole the ball and immediately launched a hard shot that was blocked.
The second half saw more of the same from the Bearcats as they pressed into the attacking third looking to take the lead. In the 54', Bri Costigan carried the ball down the left flank and played a lob into the center of the area where Gavorski rose to get her head on the ball. Despite solid contact, her header was just too high.
The Bulls best chance soon followed in the 61' as Viens took control of the ball and drove toward the UC goal with one defender trailing her and only Kayla Utley in front. As the high-scoring rookie drove closer, Utley stepped in and blocked her path, pushing the ball free and preventing a shot on goal. From there, UC countered immediately, but was unable to get off a shot.
Toward the end of regulation, the Bearcats saw two more attempts develop. First, in the 81', Cotleur got loose behind the defense, collected the ball and cut back toward the center of the box where she fired on goal, just missing high but a few inches. Then, with under one minute remaining, Gavorski had a chance as she got loose in the middle of the area and fired a shot on goal, only to see Elliott catch the shot to end the threat and force overtime.
In the first overtime period, the biggest scoring opportunity for either side came for the Bearcats as they continued to pressure the USF defense. Just over three minutes into the extra session, a free kick came into the box where Julie Gavorski headed the ball over the rushing keeper where a USF defender tried to clear the ball. That clearance rolled to Jordan Cotleur, who immediately fired on goal, sending the ball back across the goal toward the far post. As the shot went on goal, it hit the foot of the sliding keeper and redirected toward the post, clipping the pipe and kicking back into play where it was cleared away by USF.
In the final stanza, UC once again a couple of strong chances with the first coming with just under five minutes remaining. Cassie Wheldon lined up a shot that a USF defender got her foot on, deflecting wide and out of bounds for a throw in. On the long throw, Taylor Pavlika sent the ball into the box where it bounced over one player and came to Cotleur, who sent a shot just wide of the target. Then, with under 10 seconds remaining in the match, Katy Couperus had a go at trying to win the match as she sent in a shot from distance, but it was just inches too tall and went over the cross bar, forcing penalty kicks.
// NOTES
The Bearcats slipped to 11-5-4 on the season and 1-1-4 in overtime contests.
The loss in PK's is the first in program history after UC has won the previous two times, including a 4-2 defeat of USF in last year's American Athletic Conference tournament final
The Bearcats have recorded nine shutouts this season, which includes two scoreless draws. In the 697 matches UC has played all-time this is just the 19th time a match has ended 0-0 (0.0273% of the time).
The draw was the third in row in the series with USF. The two teams drew, 1-1, in the conference final last year before tying, 2-2, this year in Tampa (Oct. 23).
Tonight's match was just the fifth time (in 20 matches) this year that both teams were unable to score in the first half and the 14th time UC held its opponent scoreless in the opening 45 minutes. In those 20 matches, tonight was just the seventh time UC did not score in the opening half of play.
Should this be the final match of the season for the Bearcats, it will mark the end of the careers of five seniors, two of which are firmly entrenched in the record book. For her career, Natalie Smith ranked tied for first in ties (8), third in shutouts (20.2), fourth in wins (29) and seventh in a trio of categories (209 saves, 0.749 save percentage and 1.15 goals against average). For Kayla Utley, she ranks first all-time among field players and second overall with 7,107 minutes played in her career while making 83 career starts, the sixth-most all-time.
// UPCOMING
With their elimination from the tournament, the Bearcats will now have to wait until Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show to see if their season will continue in the national tournament.
// FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can be followed on Facebook (GoBearcatsWSOC), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWSOC) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWSOC). Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.