ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The No. 9 seed Benedictine Women's Soccer team advanced to the program's second NAIA National Tournament Semifinals appearance on Wednesday knocking off the top-ranked and No. 1 seed Martin Methodist (Tenn.) College.
While the result for Benedictine (18-2-3) and Martin Methodist (22-1-1) goes down as a 1-1 draw, the Ravens earned a Shootout win 5/5 over 3/4 to end the RedHawks run in this year's national tournament.
In very similar fashion to their Second Round win over Mobile on Monday night, the Ravens struck first during the first half of play. Nicole Kelly put the Ravens on the board first when she blasted what Martin Methodist keeper Caitlin Dumond thought was a cross. The ball bounced off the left post and bounced behind Dumond into the back of the net to put Benedictine in front 1-0 during the 37th minute.
The Ravens held the lead through the half and into the 87th minute before Martin Methodist was able to pull even exactly 50 minutes after Benedictine's goal when Caroline Ladaga sent a ball over the top of the Raven defense that Lira Mathes was able catch up to and push past Benedictine keeper Ellen Loughman.
The match remained all square for the rest of regulation and through two golden-goal periods. Benedictine outshot Martin Methodist 7-2 in the two, 10-minute golden goal periods as the match headed to a Shootout.
The shootout was the second in as many tournament matches for the RedHawks while the Ravens last shootout came during Second Round of the 2014 NAIA National Tournament where they beat Spring Arbor 3/3 over 1/4.
Benedictine went first in the shootout as Katie Miskin, Rosie McShane, Emily Ambuul, Abbie Hair and Natalie Duque took their shots from the penalty spot. Tied at 2-2 after Miskin and McShane coverted their kicks, Ambuul knocked in hers before Mathis missed her shot wide to keep Benedictine in front 3-2. Hair burried her shot past Dumond before Duque sent the Ravens into the semifinals when she was able to beat Dumond for the Ravens fifth PK conversion.
Martin Methodist finished with a 25-20 advantage in shots while both teams were tied with nine shots on goal each. Loughman set a new season high and matched her career high with eight saves.
Kelly led the Ravens with six shots, four on goal while McShane finished with five shots.
The Ravens will take on No. 4 seed William Carey (Miss.) at Noon on Friday. William Carey advanced to the Semifinals with a 2-0 win over No. 12 seed Southeastern (Fla.). William Carey will be the third straight member of the Southern States Athletic Conference that Benedictine will face in this year's tournament. They finished in a three-way tie with Mobile and Martin Methodist
