Florida Tech Women’s Soccer Team Advances To The NCAA Division II Final Four On Penalty Kicks Over Lenoir-Rhyne

TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Tech women's soccer team (10-6-5) moved on to the NCAA Division II Final Four after advancing on penalty kicks, 5-4, over Lenoir-Rhyne (19-2-2) Sunday afternoon in the national quarterfinals at Pepin Stadium. The contest ended 1-1 after two overtimes and 110 minutes of regulation.

Lenoir-Rhyne opened the scoring in the 17th minute when senior forward Amber Holt (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied her team-leading ninth goal of the year. Holt finished off senior midfielder Audrey Moore's (Dublin, IRELAND) rebounded shot. Moore was credited with the assist.

The match remained 1-0 until the Panthers tied it the 72:05 mark of the second half when Ann-Marie Helgestad (Hamar, NORWAY) scored off a deflected free kick by Casey Lademann (Flagler Beach, Fla.).

Florida Tech held a 16-11 advantage in shots taken while goalkeeper Mist Eliasdottir (Keflavik, ICELAND) allowed one goal and stopped four shots for the Panthers.

For Lenoir-Rhyne, sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Scruggs (Torrance, Calif.) allowed just one goal over 110 minutes of action as well to go along with eight saves.

The national semifinals will take place on Thursday, December 2 in Louisville, Ky., at Bellarmine University. The championship match will be held on Saturday, December 4.

Florida Tech will play Grand Valley State (20-1-2) in one of the semifinal matches while UC-San Diego (18-2-3) and St. Rose (23-0-1) face off in the other.

Lenoir-Rhyne ends its season on an eight-match unbeaten streak (7-0-1) and set the school record for wins in a single season. The L-R Women's Soccer Team, the 2010 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, also became the first sport in school history to advance to the Elite Eight since becoming a member of NCAA Division II in 1993.