BOX SCORE #23 Western Washington 2, #10 Sonoma State 1 (2OT) -- Box Score

ROHNERT PARK -- Elena Catania scored a goal in the 74th minute to knot the match at 1-1, but visiting Western Washington netted the game-winner in the 103rd minute to stun host Sonoma State, 2-1, in double overtime of the Second Round of the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Seawolf Soccer Field in Rohnert Park. 

The 10th-ranked Seawolves, who came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the west region, see their season come to an end at 16-3-2, the fifth-best record in school history.  The Vikings, the No. 5 seed in the region and ranked 23rd in the national poll, improve to 19-3-0 and advance to the Third Round to take on No. 2 seed UC San Diego in the regional final in Denver, Colo. on Thursday.

After a 1-1 tie forced the match into extra periods, it would be purely a defensive battle.  Only one shot would be taken in the first overtime, but it would be a shot too close for comfort for Sonoma State and the 1,000 Seawolf fans in attendance when Western Washington Catherine Miles' header shot banged off the crossbar just two minutes, 20 seconds into the first OT.

In the second OT, the Seawolves would get a shot off the foot of Cara Curtin, but the attempt would sail wide left.  A minute after Curtin's attempt, at 102:55, WWU's Miles dribbled into the penalty area on the right side and reached the end line before cutting a pass back into the middle. Kristin Maris held off SSU's Carolyn Greco to get a foot on the ball, and it slowly rolled into the net, just beyond the reach of both Alexis Sciacqua and Sara Studer, sending the Vikings on to the next round.

Sonoma State trailed for most of regulation as Western Washington converted a penalty kick at the 8:50 mark to go up 1-0.  The Seawolves nearly equalized barely 30 seconds later, as Ashley Martin got the ball behind the Viking defense only to put her first-touch shot off the crossbar from seven yards.

The Seawolves had an 11-9 advantage in shot attempts in a first half that featured numerous good chances for both teams.  The Vikings nearly doubled the lead five minutes into the second half, as a header by Brianna Jones off of a corner kick was cleared off the line by the Seawolves' Gretel Amman.  But, at 73:28, Catania buried one of her match-high seven shots into the back of the net to tie the match up at 1-1 after Curtin got free down the right side and played in a low cross to Catania, who scored with a blast from 10 yards out.
 
The match would remain tied the rest of the way until Western Washington's Maris netted the golden goal just 2:55 into the second overtime, ending Sonoma State's season.  The Seawolves had the advantage in shots (22-17) and corner kicks (6-4), but WWU's netminder Jamie Arthurs, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year, made eight saves and her teammates came away with three other saves.  Her counterpart, Sciacqua, made two stops in the contest.

2012 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Tournament -- Second Round

Western Washington's Post-Game Press Conference




Sonoma State's Post-Game Press Conference