College of Charleston 0, Samford 0
(CofC Advances on PKs, 6-5)
Game 1 Slideshow
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Morgan Benz connected in the sixth round of penalty kicks to send College of Charleston to the championship match of the 2009 Women's Soccer Championships via a 6-5 advantage on penalty kicks. College of Charleston and Samford played 110 scoreless minutes before advancing to the shootout.
Both teams connected on their first five penalty kicks before advancing to a single-round format. CofC freshman goalkeeper denied Samford's Brittany Gordon on the sixth shot which opened the door for Benz and the Cougars to claim the lead.
Hannah Gmerek, Annie Pease, Katie Kerr, Emily Morgan and Julie Romanik also converted penalty kicks for College of Charleston.
Paige Lanter, Cindy Spiker, Amber Cress, Shannon Healy and Leah Leppert connected for Samford before Gordon missed in the sixth round.
College of Charleston (12-6-2) had 13 shots compared to eight by Samford (12-1-5).
The Bulldogs appeared to get on the board early, but the goal was overruled because of a handball. The teams traded shots throughout the game, but no one could find the back of the net.
Katie Tate had three saves for the Cougars, and Alyssa Whitehead had two for the Bulldogs.
Samford took six corner kicks, while College of Charleston had none.
The Cougars took two shots in the first overtime that both went wide, while their one shot in the second overtime was high.
It was the second straight season that Samford was knocked out in the semifinals of the conference tournament. College of Charleston advances to the championship match for the first time since 2002.