FORT MYERS, Fla. – #7 Austin Peay advanced over the Owls 3-2 on penalty kicks in Fort Myers, Florida Thursday night in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Championship.
"It was a tough way to end our season but really proud of how our team grew up as the season wore on," coach
Benji Walton said. "I'm proud of our players and staff and all the hard work that went into our 2023 campaign."
The Governors will advance to play #3 FGCU Sunday afternoon with the Owls season ending.
The first chance of the evening came from
Macie Rainwater as she recorded the first shot on goal 11 minutes into the contest. It was a terrific setup to free Rainwater on the left edge of the box, but the shot was reeled in by the APSU keeper.
At the 17-minute mark, keeper
Charlee Bernal made an astounding diving save diving to her right to prevent the first threat from the Governors.
Bernal made yet another goal stopping play as she swatted away what seemed to be a harmless bouncer but almost sneaked into the net at 44 minutes in. It capped off a possession battle between both sides as they went scoreless into halftime.
Aila Swinton started off the second half with a laser shot over the crossbar a minute into the second half.
Tianna Rivera nearly broke the tie at the 48-minute mark shooting it off the volley but a diving stop to the left of the goal sent it away.
At the 78-minute mark, Rivera scored the first goal of the game after a gorgeous setup from Swinton and
Anabel Orozco. She scored off a rebound from the APSU keeper to take the 1-0 lead.
Shortly afterward, Austin Peay's Ellie Dreas retaliated with a goal of her own tying the game at 1-1 with five minutes left. The goal forced the game to go to overtime.
The first shot of overtime came off the foot of
Stella Allen as she fired one from the top of the box less than 30 seconds in. The ball was received by the keeper toward the right post. The Owls controlled most of the possession in the first set of 10-minutes in overtime but posted no scores.
Neither team was able to take the lead in the second overtime, forcing penalty kicks.
In penalty kicks, the Owls were able to score from Rivera and Allen both scoring with elevation. Austin Peay was able to get across three after going to six total attempts for the advancement.
