VCU Edges W&M in Penalty Kicks, 5-4, in CAA Tournament Semifinals

11/09/07 11:00PM

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - After battling to a 0-0 draw through 110 minutes of play, fourth-seeded Virginia Commonwealth edged top-seeded William and Mary in penalty kicks, 5-4, in the CAA Tournament semifinals at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex on Friday night. The Tribe will now await a possible NCAA Tournament at-large berth when the field is announced on Monday between 8-8:30 p.m. on ESPNews.

Despite the decision, W&M remains unbeaten in its last seven contests and has a 14-4-2 record. Additionally, the Green and Gold ranked 25th nationally in the most-recent RPI released by the NCAA on Nov. 5.

Penalty kicks were tied at 2-2 after the opening round of five shots, as Danielle Axenfeld and Katy Winsper connected for the Tribe and Stephanie Power and Bridgit Cooley scored for the Rams. W&M edged ahead 3-2 on Mary MacKenzie Grier’s kick, but VCU drew even when Rebecca Zimmerman found the back of the net. Brittany Bode put the Tribe ahead 4-3, but the Rams’ Francesca Gioelli answered. In the eighth round, Laurel Pastor recorded the winning penalty kick for the Rams.

The Tribe out-shot the Rams, 14-5, and had a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal. Additionally, W&M held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Claire Zimmeck led the College with five shots, while Danielle Collins totaled three, two of which were on goal.

Goalkeeper Meghan Walker earned her 10th shutout of the season and lowered her goals against average to 0.45.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the opening half, with the Tribe holding a 6-2 edge in shots. W&M’s best chance came in the final minute of the period when Abby Lauer lobbed a long pass to Zimmeck on the right sideline. Zimmeck beat two defenders and appeared to have a one-on-one opportunity with VCU’s goalkeeper Emily Niman, but defender Bridgit Cooley raced back to knock the ball away from Zimmeck into the hands of Niman.

W&M turned up the pressure in the second half and had several good opportunities. Less than three minutes into the period, Krissy Vornadore got the ball in the middle of the box and fired a hard shot that Niman deflected off the left post. With just 4:50 remaining in regulation, Zimmeck deflected a ball in the box to Brittany Lane on the right post, but Niman made a diving save to pull the ball off the goal line.

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