Box Score
NEWARK, NJ—North Dakota (#4 seed from the West Division), scored twice in the last 19 minutes to score a 3-1 win over NJIT (#1 in the East Division), Friday night in the fourth quarterfinal match of the Great West Conference women's soccer championship tournament hosted by the Highlanders on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, North Dakota got on the board in the 51st minute, but the Highlanders responded with an equalizer on a penalty kick by junior back Michelle Borth less than five minutes later.
The 1-1 tie held until North Dakota's Rachael Loomis notched what proved to be the game-winning goal at 71:03 and then added an insurance tally at 88:07.
Both goals were a matter of Loomis, who was voted onto the 2009 West Division all-conference, having too much speed on the left wing for NJIT's wide defenders in one-v-one situations in the open field. They were the 10th and 11th goals of the season, respectively, for Loomis, the dangerous sophomore.
The result ends NJIT's season with a 7-9-2 record overall. North Dakota (3-13-2) advances to face Houston Baptist in Saturday's semifinal at 7:30 pm on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.
Houston Baptist advanced with a 2-1 win Friday against South Carolina State. Saturday's other semifinal, at 5 pm, will pit West Division champ Utah Valley, a 6-1 quarterfinal winner over Delaware State, against Howard, which defeated South Dakota, 2-0, in Friday's first quarterfinal.
The Fighting Sioux broke the scoring ice against NJIT at 50:31, when senior Sarah Penner scored an unassisted goal, her fifth of the season.
The Highlanders quickly drew even after they were awarded a penalty kick when a North Dakota defender fouled Piper Lunan inside the box. Borth, who had converted her only previous penalty kick try of the season, delivered again on a pk at 55:10.
North Dakota, which had a hard-luck regular season, losing three times on goals in the second overtime and suffering seven one-goal losses all told, regained the upper hand against NJIT when Veronika Zischka, coming down the middle of the field, fed the speedy Loomis, who ran onto the pass and surged past the NJIT defender down the flank, going 30 yards before firing an eight-yard shot past Highlander goalkeeper Sadie Mele.
NJIT, which had kept the ball in the attacking third in the minutes leading up to Loomis' go-ahead goal, continued to do so down 2-1, but the Fighting Sioux settled the issue just inside the two-minute mark, as Ericka Lund threw the ball in to Loomis, who made a move to get a step on the lone defender and then used her speed to break free and sent the ball past Mele.
The total shots favored North Dakota, 8-7, but the telltale stat was that despite a fair share of the ball after the score was 1-1, the Highlanders finished the game with just two shots on goal, and one of those was Borth's penalty kick.
Lauren Sera, North Dakota's senior goalkeeper, made one save in recording the win, while Mele made two saves for the Highlanders.
The game had rough play at times, with five yellow card bookings between the two teams.
For NJIT, this season's seven wins far exceed the program's previous high-water mark for victories since it began facing Division I competition in 2006. The old high was four in a 4-14-1 record in 2007.
Indeed, the 2009 Highlanders equaled the improving program's combined output of victories in its first three seasons of Division I competition (one win in 2006, four in 2007, and two in 2008). NJIT was 4-1-1 in 2009 Great West Conference East Division regular season play.
Backed by Mele, the 2009 GWC East Division Defensive Player of the Year, the NJIT defense allowed more than two goals in a game just three times all season, including Friday's finale against North Dakota.
Briana Morales, who made successful return from an injury that sidelined her in 2008, played her final college game for the Highlanders. She had a shot on goal against North Dakota and played in 15 games, starting 14 in 2009, a season that saw her finish with a goal and an assist for three points. The last remaining player who competed for NJIT at the Division II level (as a freshman in 2005), she finished her career with 13 points on five goals and three assists.
