Rachael Wood (24) makes one of her seven saves in shutting out Grand Valley State in Friday's Midwest Region championship game.
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DENVER - The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team played Grand Valley State to a scoreless draw in Friday's NCAA Division II Midwest Region championship game, but fell in the penalty-kick shootout, 5-4, to bring the 2009 season to an end.
NKU, ranked No. 11 in the NCAA Division II national poll entering the contest, ended its season with a 19-2-1 record.
Grand Valley (19-0-4) dominated play throughout the game, outshooting the Norse by an 18-4 margin and taking a 9-1 edge in corner kicks. However, NKU got some outstanding goalkeeping out of
Rachael Wood, who equaled a career high with seven saves on the game for her seventh shutout of the season. Grand Valley's Chelsea Parise made three saves in net.
NKU had a chance to score the golden goal in the game's final two minutes when
Danielle Hogue got free for a shot with 1:20 remaining in the second overtime, but Parise was good to the task and the Laker defense successfully cleared to force the deciding penalty kicks.
Each team converted on its first three tries with
Laura Painter,
Kristi Hofmeyer and
Amanda Mason all touching the twine for the Norse while the Lakers kept pace. In the fourth round of kicks,
Morgan Price's attempt was saved by the Laker goalkeeper as Grand Valley converted its last two tries to advance to the National Quarterfinal.
Grand Valley leads the all-time series against NKU, 2-1-1. The Lakers will take on Colorado School of Mines on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the National Semifinals in Tampa, Fla.
