GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Playing on its home field, Southwestern University won its first-ever SCAC women's soccer championship Sunday afternoon, defeating Trinity University on penalty kicks after the two battled to a scoreless draw through two overtime periods. Official Championships Website | Postgame Interview | Tournament Stats
Prior to Sunday, Trinity had won eight straight conference tournaments (nine if you count the 1992 event which was the last tournament before the event was reinstated prior to the 2011 season).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trinity dominated possession, outshooting the Pirates 24-4 with half of their shots on goal.
- Southwestern goalkeeper Mary Cardone maintained a clean sheet for the second straight match, making 12 saves in net. Trinity's Paige Wallace had three saves.
- Trinity also held a 10-3 advantage in corners.
- With neither team able to find the net in regulation or either of the overtime periods, the women's final went to PKs for the first time in tournament history.
- Southwestern led 2-1 after the first two rounds but Trinity evened things up at 3-3 through five rounds. After both teams were successful in round six, Juliet Pridgen gave the Pirates a 5-4 lead and a save by Cardone on Trinity's next attempt clinched the title for Southwestern.
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Juliet Pridgen: 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Karlee Holmes: 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Juliana Chapa: 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Mary Cardone (GK): 110 minutes in goal, 0 goals allowed, 12 saves
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Kaity Ward: 6 shots, 4 shots on goal
- Camryn Beall: 4 shots, 3 shots on goal
- Kristen Canepa: 3 shots, 2 shots on goal
- Paige Wallace (GK): 110 minutes in goal, 3 saves, 0 goals allowed
NOTABLES
- Maya Fuller, who had the game-winner in overtime in yesterday's semifinal victory over Centenary, was named the Offensive Tournament MVP.
- Mary Cardone was named the Defensive Tournament MVP. Cardone had 15 saves in 210 minutes in goal at the tournament without allowing a goal.
- The championship was the first ever for Southwestern in the sport of women's soccer and the Pirates will be making their inaugural debut into the NCAA tournament. When Southwetern takes the field next weekend, they will become the sixth different SCAC women's soccer team to play in an NCAA tournament game as a member of the conference, and the first not named Trinity since Centre College in 2011.
- The last time Trinity did not win the conference title in women's soccer was 2008 when Rhodes claimed the championship. From 1993 to 2010, the SCAC did not have a postseason soccer tournament and the regular season champion was the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
- This was the first SCAC women's final to go to penalty kicks, but it was the third straight year and the fourth time in the last five that a tournament game has been settled on PKs.
- The fourth time was the charm for Southwestern as it had lost to Trinity in each of its previous three tournament final appearances (2013, 2016, 2018).
- Although the result will officially go down as a tie, Sunday marks the first non-victory by Trinity in SCAC postseason play since Nov. 3, 1991 - a streak that included 19 straight victories.
- The result also snaps Trinity's NCAA Division III record streak of consecutive conference wins (including tournaments) at 134.
UP NEXT
Southwestern (16-4-1) will advance to represent the SCAC as its automatic qualifier in next weekend's NCAA tournament. Trinity (15-3-1) will await word of an at-large berth into the postseason. The 2019 NCAA Division III women’s soccer bracket will be revealed at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, November 11. The announcement will come in a selection show available to watch on NCAA.com.
