• Boxscore
 
LA JOLLA, Calif. – Molly Downtain converted the winning penalty kick in Thursday's tiebreaker, helping Chico State advance after a 0-0 tie at Triton Stadium that eliminated defending national champion Seattle Pacific from the NCAA Division II women's soccer tournament.

“PKs are a tough way to go down,” said SPU coach Chuck Sekyra, who directed the Falcons into the postseason in each of his seven seasons. SPU won five playoff games last season en route to its first national title.

“I feel like I'm on both ends of the spectrum, going all the way last year and being out in the first round this year. We had a lot of injuries and we're a very young team, so I'm proud of how this team battled.”

The Falcons, seeded No. 3 in the West Region, finished their season with a 16-3-2 record.

The No. 6 seed Wildcats (8-5-9) won the shootout 4-3 to earn a meeting with No. 2 seed UC San Diego on Saturday in the second round.

The Falcons fell in the first round of the playoffs despite an 18-8 advantage in shots, including 6-0 in the two 10-minute overtime sessions.

“We came out and played hard. We had a lot of the run of play tonight and outshot them 18-8,” Sekyra said. “We created enough chances to be successful tonight, but you have to give Chico State credit. I thought they battled and hung tight.”

SPU won the coin toss and elected to kick first in the five-round shootout.

Jocelyn Charette nailed the opening shot and Chico's Sadi Souder answered with a successful kick.

Sophomore Brandi Hamre attempted SPU's second penalty kick and sent it wide right. Blake Lopes then converted to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage.

Falcons freshman Megan Lindsay drove one into the back of the net and goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson evened the score, diving to her left to stop Chico's third try, by Shelby Dunlap.

Senior Janae Godoy and her fourth-round CSU counterpart Christine Kearney both were successful for a 3-3 score after four rounds.

In the fifth round, SPU freshman Taylor Sawyer's shot sailed over the crossbar. That set up Downtain's winning kick that went into the left side of the goal while Dickinson dove right.

Earlier this season, on Sept. 8, Sawyer converted a penalty kick for the only goal in SPU's 1-0 win at Chico State.

“Penalty kicks are rough. I wouldn't have felt too good if we won or loss in PKs,” said Sekyra. “It's kind of tough. You want to keep playing, but it's got to be settled at some point so that one team has enough energy to play on Saturday. We were just a little unlucky there.”

Thursday marked the third overtime game of the year for SPU, while the Wildcats played their 10th. The game result will officially be listed as a tie, giving Chico an NCAA single-season record with its ninth tie.

The Falcons had an 8-3 shot advantage in the first half, but just one of the attempts was on frame. Hamre's low 20-yard shot forced CSU goalkeeper Natalie Bensky to fall on the ball in the center of the goal for the save. Bensky was credited with five saves, while Dickinson was not required to make a save during the game.

Chico's most dangerous opportunity came in the 70th minute when Kasey Wall headed a corner kick to the left post that an SPU defender cleared off the line.

SPU had two great opportunities during overtime. Lindsay hit a 25-yard drive five minutes into the first overtime that Bensky was barely able to tip over the crossbar.

Charette (Lakewood, Wash./Curtis HS) sent a hard shot in 107th minute that Chico defender Sarah Steele stopped near the goal line. The senior forward concludes her career as SPU's No. 3 all-time scorer with 31 goals. Charette was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference player of the year earlier this week.

Another senior Falcon who played her final collegiate game Thursday was Godoy (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS). She scored the golden goal in last season's 1-0 double-overtime triumph over West Florida in the 2008 championship game.

Those were the only two seniors to appear in the game for the youthful Falcons, who started four freshmen and four sophomores against Chico State. Just three upperclassmen were in SPU's opening lineup, including Dickinson, a junior.

Five Falcons made their NCAA Tournament debuts on Thursday. Last year's championship team featured a veteran lineup of five senior starters with a wealth of postseason experience.

Nine regular starters will return next season for SPU. Five of those ranked among the top-six scorers on this year's squad.


NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament – 1st Round
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Triton Soccer Stadium/La Jolla, Calif.

#19 Seattle Pacific 0, Chico State 0 (2ot)

Penalty Kick Tiebreaker
Seattle Pacific: 1-Jocelyn Charette, good. 2-Brandi Hamre, miss. 3-Megan Lindsay, good. 4-Janae Godoy, good. 5-Taylor Sawyer, miss.

Chico State: 1-Sadi Souder, good. 2-Blake Lopes, good. 3-Shelby Dunlap, miss. 4-Christine Kearney, good. 5-Molly Downtain, good.

Scoring -- None.

Shots – CSU 18, SPU 8.
Saves – CSU 6 (Natalie Bensky 5), SPU 0 (Maddie Dickinson).
Corner kicks – CSU 8, SPU 7.
Fouls – CSU 7, SPU 10.
Offsides – CSU 0, SPU 2.
Attendance -- 246.

Records –
Seattle Pacific 16-3-2
Chico State 8-5-9