After 120 scoreless minutes, the Women in Blue converted all four penalty kicks while FC Miami City missed two, as the Blues won their second-straight Southern Conference Championship and advanced to the USL W League National Semifinals.
Miami had the first dangerous opportunity of the match when they fired a point-blank shot on frame, but Lilly Heaslet made a brilliant reactionary save.
Twelve minutes later, Juli Viera charged down the left wing and slid a ball across the mouth of goal, but no Blue was able to latch onto it and tap it home. Lauryn Mateo hopped on a rebound on the right side of the net a minute later and fired a tight-angle shot that narrowly missed the goal.
Right before half, Naroa Domenech had a header opportunity at the back post, but Madison Vukas was there to make the save.
A few minutes after the break, Caitlin Conroy unleashed a powerful shot from the right side that produced a rebound that bounced to Lauryn Mateo, but her attempt on net was blocked.
Thirteen minutes later, Sarah Gorham tried to pick out the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box, but her attempt rolled just wide. Gorham had another chance two minutes later during a goal box scramble, but her sliding shot was blocked by a Miami defender. The match remained scoreless and went into extra time.
A back-and-forth extra 30 minutes ensued, with the best chance coming from the Blues in the 98th minute. Brooke Pearson was played in behind and rocketed a shot from inside the goalbox that forced a fingertip save out of Vukas. No victor would be decided in extra time, so the match moved onto penalty kicks.
The Blues quartet of Phoebe Hollin, Maeo, Anae Malbete, and Sarah Gorham were perfect through four rounds, while Miami had a miss. Heaslet made a great save on Miami’s fifth penalty, but was ruled to have moved in front of the goal line, so Miami was given a re-take. The penalty taker then blazed her re-take attempt over the bar, giving the Blues their 2nd-straight Southern Conference title.
Lilly Heaslet was named the Wicked Pie Player of the Match for her efforts on the night, which included a shutout.
The Women in Blue now head up North to take on the Vermont Green on July 11th in the National Semifinals. The winner will face the winner of the Salmon Bay FC vs. Minnesota Aurora FC match in the USL W League National Championship.
