HILO, Hawai'i – Thursday's PacWest semifinal match looked destined for overtime between No. 2 seed Concordia University Irvine and No. 3 seed and tournament host Hawaii Hilo.
The two teams had not conceded a goal while playing stellar defense for the majority of the contest. It was almost déjà vu from their regular season meeting which ended deadlocked in a scoreless tie.
But then in the 83rd minute of play,
Irandy Erazo dumped the ball over to
Sarah Venegas who lofted a shot from the left side at an unorthodox angle. The ball fluttered past the Hawaii Hilo goalie and into the back of the net and stunned the Vulcans with only a few minutes left in regulation.
Venegas, Erazo and the entire Concordia squad celebrated the shocking turn of events and then protected that lead the rest of the way to advance to Saturday's PacWest Championship Game.
Recently named PacWest Newcomer of the Year Christina Sidoti made six saves to earn her fourth clean sheet of the season and she had help in front of her too. Newly minted PacWest Defender of the Year
Sloane De Torres and Third Team All-Conference selection
Kalli Cho also played a big part of the team defense to limit the Vulcans to 13 total shots.
Sidoti made multiple saves that were critical in the second half to help CUI walk the tightrope. Both teams had a few scoring chances and CUI earned seven corner kicks to only three for UHH. But the only goal of the game came off the foot of Venegas.
LOOKING AHEAD TO SATURDAY & AN AUTO BID
This marks the first time the Concordia women's soccer program will play in the Championship Game at the PacWest Tournament and also the first victory for the Golden Eagles at the conference tourney in the NCAA DII era.
Concordia now faces No. 4 seed Biola on Saturday in the PacWest Championship Game. The winner will secure the automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA DII West Regional Tournament.
CUI has made the Regional Tournament multiple times in recent years but that was before the PacWest started the conference tournament. The Golden Eagles entered this week ranked No. 3 in the most recent rankings.
Seven teams will qualify from the West Region for the NCAA DII Tournament - including the three automatic qualifiers that win the PacWest, CCAA and GNAC Tournaments. The next four teams listed in the regional ranking will round out the field of seven teams, with the No. 1 seed earning bye.
CLICK HERE for Regional Rankings Entering This Week
CLICK HERE for the PacWest Women's Soccer Tournament Central page
CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's soccer schedule
