SDSU Wins Summit League Tournament

Saturday, November 8

Denver, Colo.

2:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Denver

11/8/2014 6:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: SDSU Sports Info

DENVER, COLO. — With less than a minute remaining in regulation, the Jackrabbits found themselves down, 1-0, to defending tournament champion Denver at CIBER Field.

As the clock continued to wind down, they worked the ball into the Pioneer end. And, with only 31 seconds left on the clock, freshman Nicole Hatcher got behind the defense and directed a bouncing Delaney Ratcliffe pass out of the reach of a diving Tina Vargas. As the ball trickled slowly across the line, the Jackrabbit bench exploded.

After two scoreless overtimes, the South Dakota State women's soccer team clinched its second Summit League Tournament crown on penalty kicks, topping the Pioneers, 5-4. In the first round of sudden death, Nicole Inskeep denied Denver's Sam Harder, and then Tori Poole clinched the win by snapping the ball into the back of the net.

“I was kind of calm and just thinking of all the times I've had to take penalty kicks in the past,” said Poole, the Tournament MVP. “It was really a team effort because me, being the last person, means that the people before me had to take it.”

For the first 20 minutes of the game, the Pioneers maintained possession, taking advantage of multiple free kicks to fire shots on net. South Dakota State's best opportunity came in the 18^th minute after Jennie Scislow earned the Jackrabbits a corner kick by racing down a long pass and forcing a defender to send the ball out of play. Alyssa Brazil's kick eventually bounced out of the box to Ratcliffe, but the junior defender sent a shot wide.

The Pioneers opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute, taking advantage of a corner kick of their own. Stella Norman found Brooke Boothe in front of the net, and the sophomore midfielder headed the ball past Inskeep.

Shelby Raper almost evened the score in the 30^thminute, rushing up the right sideline and then cutting across to the front of the net. Under pressure from a charging defender, she fired a shot that glanced off Tina Vargas's fingertips. A trailing Hatcher couldn't chase down the rebound before it trickled out of play.

The Pioneers opened the second half with back-to-back corner kicks, but the Jackrabbit backline managed to clear the ball out of danger each time. After that, a swarming Denver defense kept South Dakota State from taking a shot on net until the dying minutes of the match.

In the 80^th minute, the Pioneers almost pulled ahead by two after earning a free kick deep in the South Dakota State end. Inskeep was there to make a leaping save to deny Harder, deflecting her shot just past the post and giving the Jackrabbits an opportunity to tie the game.

Shortly thereafter, in the 88^th minute, Diana Potterveld and Brazil combined to get Scislow a clear look at the net from just outside of the box. Vargas made a leaping save of her own to send the freshman's shot over the crossbar.

The Jackrabbits wouldn't be denied less than two minutes later, with Hatcher netting her fourth goal of the season to set up Poole and Inskeep's penalty-kick heroics.

As the Summit League Tournament champion, South Dakota State will play in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for Monday, Nov. 10 at 3:30 CT.

All-Tournament Team
Brooke Boothe, Denver
Francesca Garzelloni, Denver
Nicole Hatcher, South Dakota State
Nicole Inskeep, South Dakota State
Anisha Kinnarath, North Dakota State
Tori Poole, South Dakota State (MVP)
Diana Potterveld, South Dakota State
Anna Rode, IUPUI
Kalli Shepler-Tucker, IUPUI
Tina Vargas, Denver
Tristyn Walczak, North Dakota State