LANGHORNE, PA - The women's soccer team suffered the ultimate heartbreaker Friday night in the first round of the NEAC tournament against rival Baptist Bible College.
Two halves and two overtimes were unable to settle anything as both teams remained unyielding and deadlocked at 0-0 after the extra sessions, requiring penalty kicks to decide the fate of each team.
After a 2-2 draw at the end of penalty kicks, the game went into sudden death PK's. Unfortunately a PBU miss and a Baptist Bible score ended the game along with PBU's hopes to advance to the conference championship.
The Defenders, who currently own a 17-3-1 record, opened Friday's game with noticeable determination as they controlled the majority of play in the opening period on their way to recording 18 shots in the first half alone. Despite the Defenders' large number of opportunities, PBU's back line along with senior goalie Melissa Landis came up huge, stifling any chances that arose for Baptist Bible.
The second stanza of play saw a more evenly played half, with the shot disparity a little more even at 11-5 in Baptist Bible's favor. As the game moved deep into the second half and later in the overtime periods, PBU continued to take more and more control of play. However, both defenses remained impenetrable as neither team could score, ending regulation and later the extra periods in a standstill 0-0 draw. Unfortunately, it was during the sudden death penalty kicks that PBU saw their hopes of moving into the NEAC championship vanish, eventually falling 3-2.
In only her second game back from injury, PBU goalie Melissa Landis had a phenomenal match, ending the contest with 16 saves and no goals after 110 minutes of regulation and overtime play. In addition, the senior also came up with several huge saves during the penalty kick shootout to help give PBU a fighting chance.
The loss marks the third time this season that PBU has fallen to Baptist Bible. The previous scores were 2-1 and 2-0 and includes the Defenders' triumph over the Crimson Eagles in the NCCAA II East Regional Finals in which Baptist Bible ended PBU's hopes of returning to the national tournament. By and large Baptist Bible has steadily become an insurmountable obstacle for PBU the past several years, as the win marks the Defenders' sixth consecutive victory over the red and white.
Due to the nature of the game and the fact that it had to be decided by PK's, the contest is technically scored as a tie. Consequently, PBU's record remains above .500 and now stands at 10-9-1. Baptist Bible is 17-3-1 and will compete for the conference championship tomorrow against Keuka at 1:00 pm.
Although Friday's defeat knocks the Crimson Eagles out of NCAA postseason contention, PBU will still have the opportunity to compete in the NCCAA national tournament beginning next week. The soccer team received an at large bid and will travel to Kissimmee, Florida to take on the number seven seeded team, Cincinnati Christian. The game will begin at noon and will be held at Austin Tindall Regional Soccer Park.
