WINTER PARK, Fla. – The 2019 Embry-Riddle women's soccer team made program history on Sunday as the Eagles (10-5-3) won their first Sunshine State Conference Tournament title. The fourth-seeded Eagles outlasted No. 2 seed Rollins (12-4-1) in a penalty kick shootout to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Soccer Championships.
The Tars struck first in Sunday's game as Kathryn O'Brien capitalized on an ERAU defensive miscue to net the game's first goal in the eighth minute. The Eagles had chances to even the score, including a Marie Myhrvold Seim shot that missed to the left and a Julia Olsson strike that was saved by Rollins goalkeeper Elena Beasley, but at the half the score remained 1-0 in favor of the home team.
The Eagles came out pressuring the Rollins defense in the second half and at the 59:29 mark, their efforts resulted in a goal. After the Tars sent the ball out over the end line, Isabelle Navren's corner kick found Rita Okoro on the near post and the senior headed home her seventh goal of the year to pull the Eagles level at 1-1.
Throughout the remainder of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, neither team was able to add to its tally on the scoreboard, sending the game to the penalty kicks to determine the champion.
After the first three penalty attempts missed the mark, Okoro stepped up to the spot and buried her attempt to put the Eagles up 1-0. After Rollins made it 1-1, each of the next two kickers converted on their attempts to make it 3-3. The penalty kick score did not change as each of the next five kickers missed, including a Rollins attempt that was stopped by Dana Ruchti, bringing the Eagles' eighth penalty kick taker, Fanny Kristiansson to the spot. Kristiansson, who cheered her team on from the bench through the entirety of regulation and overtime, rose to the occasion and buried her penalty kick to send the Eagles to regionals.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Ragnheidur Gardarsdottir, ERAU (Most Outstanding Player)
- Sophie Brundin, ERAU
- Elena Beasley, Rollins
- Dana Ruchti, ERAU
- Hannah Menard, Rollins
- Rita Okoro, ERAU
- Kathryn O'Brien, Rollins
- Cristina Velasquez, ERAU
- Sarah Buckley, Rollins
- Dani Diaz, Barry
- Emma Heikkila, NSU
NOTES
- Embry-Riddle becomes the sixth SSC team to win the women's soccer title
- ERAU is 1-0 vs. Rollins in the SSC tournament, including the championship
- Rollins is now 3-2 in tournament finales
- #4 ERAU is the highest seed to wn the tournament since #6 Florida Tech defeated #5 Tampa in 2017.
- The last #4 seed to win the tournament was Tampa in 2010.
UP NEXT:
SSC teams await the NCAA Tournament with the selection show scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18.