WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Third-seeded Fairmont State and second-seeded West Liberty battled to a scoreless draw through 110 minutes of play, but West Liberty advanced to the MEC Women's Soccer Tournament Semifinals by edging the Falcons 7-6 in penalty kicks.
With the setback, Fairmont State's record-breaking 2018 campaign came to an end with an 8-6-4 overall record. In 2018, the Falcons set program records for wins (8), conference wins (6), and shutouts (9). The Falcons also recorded the first-ever winning record in program history and earned a berth in the MEC Tournament for the first time.
West Liberty (6-8-4) advances to take on West Virginia Wesleyan, the top seed in the South Division, on Friday at 1 p.m.
The Hilltoppers started quickly in the first half and created several scoring opportunities early, forcing
Isabelle Vaccari to make five of her seven saves in the first 45 minutes. The Falcons settled in, though, and created several scoring chances of their own in the second half, including multiple good looks on corner kicks.
After a pair of uneventful 10 minute overtime periods, the game moved to penalty kicks. The first four shooters made their attempts, and then West Liberty's Lauren Hartnell came up with a save on the fifth Fairmont State attempt. The Hilltoppers stepped to the spot with a chance to win it, but the attempt rolled wide of the frame. The two teams exchanged makes, and then Fairmont State missed an attempt giving West Liberty another shot at the win. This time, Kaelyn Oskin was able to convert her chance sealing the win for the Hilltoppers.
The statistics supported the evenly played match with West Liberty holding the slight edge in shots, 15-14, and corner kicks being even at 4-4.
Vaccari was called upon to make seven saves on the day. The true-freshman recorded her seventh shutout of the season with today's performance.
West Liberty goalkeeper Lauren Hartnell registered two saves.
Louise Welch was the top attacker for Fairmont State, getting off six shots in the game.
Fairmont State will return 10 of 11 starters from today's game during the 2019 season.
