Women’s Soccer Survives PKs Vs. California

On the brink of elimination following 90 minutes of regulation play and two scoreless overtime periods, the Boston College women's soccer team pulled out a dramatic victory in penalty kicks, outscoring UC-Berkeley, 3-1, on Friday to advance to the third round of the NCAA tournament at Cagan Field on the Stanford campus.

Senior goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni was huge for the Eagles in penalty kicks, saving the first California shot to give her teammates a crucial advantage in the session.

Senior midfielder Kristie Mewis capitalized on the opportunity, burying her penalty kick in the back of the net to give BC a 1-0 advantage.

UC-Berkeley's Thelma Bjork slipped her shot past Mastroianni to tie the score, and both BC and Cal missed their next shots.

Senior defender Alyssa Pember came through for the Eagles at a critical moment and sent her shot into the left corner of the net to give BC a 2-1 advantage. That set the stage for another fantastic save by Mastroianni.

Given the opportunity to clinch the game for the Eagles, sophomore Gibby Wagner then calmly placed her shot into the corner of the net to send the Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth straight year.

Head coach Alison Foley was impressed by the play of Mastroianni in the penalty kick session and credited meticulous preparation as the reason for her success.

"There were a couple of times when Jill had to make some saves, and she came up and did her job," Foley said. "We had scouted their penalty kicks, and we knew where they were going to go with their kicks, so that was certainly in our favor."

Wagner, who ultimately won the game for the Eagles with her decisive penalty kick, credited Mastroianni's leadership and critical saves for her success.

"After Jill had made that save, I was just feeding off of her adrenaline," Wagner said. "I knew I could put it in after she had made those saves. It was kind of easy."

Mastroianni was excited by the opportunity to step up for her team, but she was also quick to credit her teammates for the shootout victory.

"From a goalie's perspective, you just have to get really focused and be prepared to be the difference," Mastroianni said. "Everyone on my team stepped up, took a great penalty kick, and put it away. If they score, they make it easy for me."

The decisive shootout followed 120 minutes of intense play by both teams, with momentum shifting constantly throughout the game. BC opened the game on fire, taking three shots in the first five minutes of play. UC-Berkeley quickly responded midway through the first half, taking four corners and attempting four shots to put pressure on the Eagles. Neither team was able to finish an opportunity.

BC had several near misses in the second half. The Eagles' best opportunity came in the 51st minute, when Wagner sent a powerful shot into the crossbar. The Eagles defense was huge in the half for BC, breaking up several Cal opportunities to keep the game tied. Mastroianni was pleased with the way the defense played in the game.

"My defense played great," Mastrioanni said. "Alyssa Pember was making sliding tackles and denying shots. Without them, there would have been a lot more danger, so they stopped a lot."

The Eagles advanced to face the top-seeded Stanford Cardinal last night in a rematch of last year's College Cup match, which Stanford won 2-0. Wagner said that playing for the team's seniors was one of the factors that pushed them to the victory over UC-Berkeley.

"There was no way that we were going to lose that game for Jill in her senior year," Wagner said. "I'm so happy she pulled it out for us in the end."

Facing a formidable opponent on Sunday night, the Eagles hoped to add one more chapter to what has been a remarkable career for the decorated senior class.

Despite coming off such an emotional victory, the Eagles were unable to continue their run, as Stanford defeated them 2-0 on Sunday. BC left everything on the line, but the No. 1 team in the nation proved to be too formidable.