Box Score
Video - PK Shootout
Video Interview with Noreen Herlihy
Photo Gallery

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team set a school record for consecutive games without a loss by playing to a 2-2 tie at No. 4 West Chester Friday morning in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinals. West Chester advanced to the PSAC final by way of a 4-3 edge in a penalty kick shootout.

Friday's tie was the 13th consecutive game without a loss for SRU, which has posted a record of 9-0-4 over that stretch.

The Rock (13-3-4) and the Golden Rams (17-1-1) were notched at 2-2 after two overtime sessions, sending the game to penalty kicks. After the best of five shootout, the score was tied 3-3, sending it to a sudden death shootout. West Chester keeper Lyndsie Bernardini made a save on The Rock's sixth shot and Lara Bodenstab scored the sixth attempt for West Chester to earn the 4-3 win.

By NCAA rules, the game is officially recorded as a 2-2 tie for each team, with West Chester advancing to the PSAC final with the shootout advantage.

The Golden Rams, who are the defending conference champions and have won three of the last four titles, will host the winner of the Kutztown-California semifinal in the championship game Saturday at 11 a.m.

“We're very pleased with our effort today,” said head coach Noreen Herlihy. “We played the fourth-ranked team in the country to a draw on their home field, and at times, we had them on their heels.”

West Chester took the lead in the 40th minute on a penalty kick after a 50-50 play in the box was whistled as a foul on SRU. Jessica Bennett took the kick and found the upper right corner of the net to put the hosts up 1-0.

Slippery Rock didn't let down after the goal though, charging up the field to notch the game at 1-1 with just 19 seconds left in the half. Ashley Paganie made a long run down the right wing and swung a cross into the box, where Shelby Ward struck her team-leading ninth goal of the season to send the game to halftime tied.

West Chester came out firing in the second half, hitting the crossbar once and the goalpost three times, but SRU weathered the storm and swung momentum back to the other end of the field.

The Rock put a shock into everyone in attendance when Rachel Knapp wrapped a corner kick into the goal to put Slippery Rock up 2-1 with 16:50 to play.

The Golden Rams pushed all 10 field players into the box on a corner kick in the 79th minute and found the equalizer through traffic when Tara Malkiewicz headed in her third goal of the season.

The first overtime session was controlled by West Chester, with six shots, including three that hit the post, but the Golden Rams could not score.

In the second overtime, Slippery Rock maintained possession in the midfield and generated chances, the best of which came on a free kick by Emer Flatley that just missed the foot of a sliding Alyssa Barrett and went wide of the goal.

In the shootout, Slippery Rock missed its first and fourth attempts, while converting on its second, third and fifth attempts. West Chester made its first and second attempts, missed its third and fourth and made its fifth, sending it to sudden death at 3-3 and setting up the finish.

Paganie, Flatley and Danielle Turner all made their penalty attempts for Slippery Rock, while Dana O'Neill made one save. O'Neill picked the right side on two more attempts and got a hand on each of them, but could not steer them out of the goal.

For the game, West Chester finished with advantages of 20-5 in total shots, 5-2 in shots on goal and 10-2 in corner kicks.

O'Neill made three saves in the game to improve her record to 8-2-2 this season. Bernardini made no saves in the game, but made two stops in the shootout.

The Rock will now wait for the NCAA Women's Soccer Committee to announce the tournament field for the National Championships. SRU was ranked third in the Atlantic Region when the final regular season rankings were announced, and defeated fifth-ranked Bloomsburg and tied top-ranked West Chester this week, virtually guaranteeing a trip to the NCAA tournament.

The selections for the NCAA Tournament will be announced in a live videocast at www.NCAA.com Monday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.