LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 28) – After battling visiting Franciscan to a scoreless draw after two overtimes, the Saint Vincent women's soccer team saw its Presidents' Athletic Conference playoff run end in heartbreaking fashion, with the Barons wining the shootout, 5-4, at a rainy UPMC Field.
 
The Bearcats, who were making their first PAC tournament appearance since 2013 and hosting their first ever PAC home playoff match, end the season with a 10-4-4 overall record.
 
Saint Vincent goalkeeper Madison Arnold made a season-high 12 saves for the Bearcats, who were forced to thwart a number of Franciscan scoring attempts throughout the match. Six of Arnold's stops came in the second half, while she turned in two more saves in overtime, as the Barons closed the game with a 25-12 margin in shots, and a 12-6 advantage in shots-on-goal.
 
Following a first half in which play was fairly even, the Barons controlled possession for much of the second frame. After Arnold was forced to make a pair of close saves in the 58th minute, the Bearcats' Tanisha Grewal appeared to score the go-ahead goal in the 60th, but the score was nullified as it was deemed offside.
 
The Bearcat defense withstood another Franciscan attack with just over 10 minutes left, as the Barons recorded four shots and a corner kick in a 2-minute span, but Arnold made two more stops and the Bearcat back line blocked another to keep the game scoreless, which is how it would remain at the end of regulation.
 
The Barons again controlled possession throughout most of the first overtime period, recording two corner kicks and two shots on goal, but Arnold turned both aside to extend the game another 10 minutes.
 
In the second overtime, the teams traded possession, with the Bearcats blocking a pair of Baron shots midway through, before a shot from SVC's Emma Koller off of a corner kick was saved in the final minute to necessitate penalty kicks.
 
In the shootout, each of the teams' first four attempts found the net, including shots from SVC's Madisen Geesaman, Lexi Durkacs, Grewal and Addie Fisher. After SVC's fifth attempt was saved, Franciscan's Lillian Torbeck was successful on hers, clinching the win.
 
Seven different players were credited with at least one shot for Saint Vincent, let by four by Grewal and three from Emma Koller.
 
Saint Vincent's 10 wins on the season are its most since the 2012 squad finished 11-7, while this marks just the seventh season in the team's 30-year history in which it won 10 or more games.