Box Score  l  PSAC championship page

Semifinal: Saturday, 1:30 pm vs. Slippery Rock (at California)  l  Tournament page  l  Live Stats

GANNON - Junior goalkeeper Brittain Wagner made 10 saves in the first 110 minutes, then turned away a penalty kick in the shootout as East Stroudsburg University advanced to the PSAC women's soccer semifinals for the first time since 2008 with a 5-4 PK shootout victory at Gannon on Thursday afternoon.

After a scoreless regulation, the Warriors buried all five of their penalty kicks, and Wagner made the save on Gannon's fourth PK. Sophomore back Kelly Clark gave ESU a 4-3 lead after Wagner's save, and redshirt junior back Carly Collins buried the game-winner to end the contest.

ESU (10-4-5), the tournament's No. 6 seed, takes on No. 7 Slippery Rock (11-5-2) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at top seed California. Slippery Rock knocked off No. 2 West Chester, 2-1; California advanced with a 1-0 win over IUP; and No. 4 Edinboro beat Kutztown, 2-1, to set the Final Four.

Gannon (13-3-2) had most of the chances in regulation and overtime, holding a 27-7 advantage in shots, but Wagner had a number of key saves. The biggest came with just under 10 minutes left in regulation when she deflected a point-blank shot by Maddi Buckham over the crossbar.

In the penalty kick shootout, Gannon (shooting first) and ESU both converted their first three before Wagner's save. Senior midfielders Marissa Spitler, Cree Julian and Ashley McKenna took the first three for the Warriors, followed by Clark and Collins.

ESU and Slippery Rock tied, 1-1, in their first meeting on October 6 at Eiler-Martin Stadium. Freshman forward Madeline DeVico scored the game-tying goal for ESU in the 59th minute after Slippery Rock's Shelby Ward scored in the 16th. Wagner had seven saves, SRU's Dana O'Neill had four saves and the Rock had a 16-13 edge in shots.

PENALTY KICKS - Gannon, then ESU
1 - Mani Brueckner (made), Marissa Spitler (made)
2 - Justine Rodrigues (made), Cree Julian (made)
3 - Kaitlyn Kissell (made), Ashley McKenna (made)
4 - Sammy Valloud (SAVED), Kelly Clark (made)
5 - Sidney Morgan (made), Carly Collins (made)

GAME NOTES
* ESU is playing in the PSAC Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons under head coach Rob Berkowitz, and has advanced to the semifinals for the third time.
* The Warriors are making their first playoff appearance since 2009.
* In 2008, the Warriors fell to IUP in penalty kicks (1-1 tie, 9-8 on PK's) in their semifinal game at Mercyhurst.
* They also advanced to the semifinals in Berkowitz's first season in 2007.

* ESU has won two PSAC championships - the initial championship in 1994, and a second in 1997. Slippery Rock has also won two, in 2003 and 2005. California won its first-ever championship last season, and Edinboro is looking for its first title.

* ESU is No. 6 in this week's NCAA Atlantic Region rankings. The top six schools qualify, but the PSAC and WVIAC tournament champions gain automatic bids. The top WVIAC team this week is No. 9 Alderson-Broaddus.
* On Thursday, #7 Slippery Rock beat #1 West Chester, #2 California beat #8 IUP, #6 ESU beat #3 Gannon, and #4 Edinboro beat #5 Kutztown in the PSAC quarterfinals.

* Wagner had her sixth shutout of the season and improves to 10-3-5 on the year with a 0.80 goals against average.
* Opponents were 2-for-5 on penalty kicks against Wagner in the regular season.