DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team will play for another Sunshine State Conference title on Sunday. The Eagles (9-3-3) earned the right to advance after besting Rollins (8-6-4) 5-3 in a penalty shootout in the SSC tournament semifinal round, Thursday at the ERAU Soccer Stadium.
For the third time in four contests between the Eagles and the Tars, regulation and two periods of overtime yielded a 1-1 draw. Thursday's match was reminiscent of the 2019 SSC title game which also required penalty kicks to decide the outcome. However, whereas the Eagles missed a few of their attempts from the spot two years ago, they were perfect on this night as all five kickers found the back of the net.
The Eagles were on the front foot to start the contest, putting the Rollins defense on its heels in the opening minutes.
Ragnheidur Gardarsdottir forced Rollins netminder Noel Miller to make two saves within the first 10 minutes and
Marie Myhrvold Seim's volley was headed away at the last minute to keep the Eagles off the board.
Midway through the first frame, the tide shifted, and the Rollins offense started to build, keeping the Eagles pinned in their defensive half. The Tars ended the half outshooting the Eagles 8-4, but the Eagle defense, behind five saves from
Oona Jokinen kept the visitors at bay, resulting in a scoreless draw at the intermission.
The Tars continued to control the possession to start the second half and their efforts paid off when Sara Skala finished Tayla Duffy's cross to put Rollins up 1-0.
With 9:18 left the Eagles earned a free kick about 10 yards outside the penalty area.
Anita Agustsdottir initiated the set piece and her kick curled toward the back post where
Grace Foyer rose to head home her sixth goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1.
The Tars outshot the Eagles 12-5 in the second half, but Jokinen, who had a career-high 10 saves in the game, made some big stops down the stretch, and since neither team was able to score again, the contest went to overtime.
In overtime, the Eagles had a slight 3-2 shot advantage, including a chance by Myhrvold Seim that scooted just wide of the goal. However, the numbers in the scoring column didn't change for either team and the attention turned to the penalty spot to determine who would move on.
Inga Agustsdottir was the first to kick and she buried her attempt to put ERAU on the board. On Rollins' first attempt, Jokinen came up with a big stop to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. The next three kickers for each team all made good on their chances and with one kicker left for each team,
Anita Agustsdottir strode to the spot. The 2021 SSC Defensive Player of the Year, who was a stalwart on the Eagles back line throughout Thursday's match in addition to having an assist, drilled her shot to send the Eagles to the final.
"Hats off to Rollins because I thought they played very well," ERAU Head Coach
Samantha Bohon commented. "They had us on our heels for a good bit of the game. We started fine but then went away from the game plan too easily. Oona had to do some work tonight to keep us within striking distance. I thought Marie and Ragnheidur looked very dangerous all night, so we knew we were in the game despite not having the possession we normally have. For the last 15 minutes of regulation and OT, we started playing a little bit. This group has a sense of belief even on an off night like tonight. I thought we were very confident and strong in the penalties as we've spent a good bit of time on them in training. All in all, this is the postseason, so we survived and advanced."
The Eagles will host Florida Tech at the ERAU Soccer Stadium on Sunday in a match slated for 1 p.m. The sixth-seeded Panthers downed No. 2 Palm Beach Atlantic in overtime to advance.
The Embry-Riddle women's soccer season is presented by Radiology Associates
