Women's Soccer Wins NEC Championship in Shootouts (4-3)

The Blue Devils advanced via a 4-3 penalty kick advantage. Aoife Horgan and Sabrina Krause put the Blue Devils up 2-1 when Melina Ford stopped Wagners Kiley McNally to maintain the advantage. Victoria Viollete cashed in her PK while Wagner worked around a Blue Devil miss to tie it 3-3. Gia Edwards sent her kick into the lower right past the Wagner keeper. It all came down to Wagner graduate student Madison Carr. Carr kicked her shot off the crossbar and out of the goal, CCSU stormed the field to celebrate their 5th NEC Championship in 6 years.

GAME INFORMATION | BOXSCORE

Score: CCSU 1, Wagner 1
Records: CCSU 10-4-5, (7-0-3) NEC; Wagner 8-9-3,(5-5 NEC)
Location: New Britain, CT | CCSU Soccer Field

 Key moments: 

• Abbie Burgess set up Aoife Horgan three feet from the goal in the 24th minute, she sent a header in that was denied by Wagner keeper Sam Hughes.

• In the 36th minute, Rachel Wygant received a beautiful touch from Daniela De Sousa and sent a shot on goal but Wagner Goal Keeper Sam Hughes made a sliding save to stop the Blue Devils attack. 

• Central Connecticut and Wagner went into the locker room scoreless after a great defensive first half for both teams. 

• Melina Ford made a game-changing save in the 71st minute when Wagner forward Jess Maraia got past all Blue Devil defenders and tried to sneak one past Ford.

• The match would end 0-0 at the end of regulation. 

• With seven minutes remaining in the second overtime, Ford's heroics continued. She made a kick save while on the ground that was cleaned up and sent out by Katarzyna Zawadzki. 

• Following the Melina Ford save Abbie Burgess dribbled the ball down the pitch and fed Giavanna Inzerillo on the right side. Inzerillo sent in a shot and scored her 15th goal of the season which gave her team a 1-0 lead in the 103rd minute. 

• Wagner was not done yet. The Seahawks tied the match 1-1 in the 109th minute with a short free kick from Kayla Barbosa just past the diving Ford.

• In dramatic fashion, the "cardiac kids" of Central Connecticut would pull out the victory in PK shootouts (4-3).

Numbers to Know:

• 13 - The Central Connecticut Women's Soccer Team captured its 13th Northeast conference title. This is the most by any team at CCSU.

Game Notes:

• The Central Connecticut Blue Devils came into the match 25-1-1 vs Wagner all time.

• This is the first matchup between the Seahawks and the Blue Devils in a Northeast Conference Women's Soccer Championship match. 

Up Next: 

The Blue Devils will travel to play in the NCAA tournament with the first round being Thursday, November 9th. The NCAA Women's Soccer selection show is at 4 PM Monday streaming on NCAA.com.