DULUTH, Minn. – Hadley Bales knocked in the decisive penalty kick, giving Winona State team a victory against Southwest Baptist in the opening round of the NCAA Regional Tournament on Friday in Duluth.
With the score tied at one after a pair of overtimes, the Warriors connected on five of their six penalty kicks, with goalkeeper Alexandra Vial stopping a pair of Southwest Baptist attempts to keep WSU alive in the NCAA postseason.
Rebecca McCoy, Morgan LeFebvre, Alaina Kne and Jennifer DeRoo all were successful on their kicks, with the Bearcats matching with four makes of their own to move the penalty kicks into sudden death. Southwest Baptist's Ali Skogrand missed her attempt, setting the stage for Bales' game-winning kick.
The victory moves the Warriors (15-3-3 overall) into the regional final, where they will take on host Minnesota-Duluth at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
Southwest Baptist scored the game's first goal, with Skogrand finding the back of the net with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Winona State responded with a goal of its own in the contest's 61st minute, with Devon Richards launching a shot from 30 yards out that pulled the game into a 1-1 tie.
The game was scoreless from there, with neither team adding a goal in either one of the two 10-minute overtime periods. The tie set up penalty kicks, which the Warriors won 5-4.
Both teams had opportunities to score, with SBU outshooting the Warriors 21-18. Kne, DeRoo and Kati Baker each had three shots while Baker and DeRoo put two of their shots on goal.
Vial recorded the victory in goal for the Warriors, making 10 saves.
