FOLEY, Ala. – Trailing 1-0 to Georgia State in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament, Yuliia Khrystiuk tied the score at one in the 68th minute and after two periods of overtime, Brooke Edwards, Sydney Somers and Rhea Kijowski converted on penalty kicks while Emily Bredek stood strong in goal to lift the Monarchs to a 3-1 win in penalty kicks. The Monarchs advance to the semifinals where they will take on James Madison on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.
“I’m so proud of this group tonight as we had to work hard for that win. I thought we dominated for long spells but Georgia State is so good on the break ,so it was balanced for sure,” ODU Head Coach Angie Hind said. “It’s always hard on one team when it goes to PK’s but we know how strong Emily is in these shootouts and she again stepped up big time tonight. It’s a real quick turnaround as usual but right now we will enjoy this win tonight.”
Elena Diaz gave Georgia State a 1-0 lead with 51 seconds left in the first half.
Khrystiuk then tied the game in the 68th minute off assists from Alice Thompson and Katie Lutz that would eventually send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, Bredek was forced to make just her second save of the game on a shot by Georgia State leading scorer Aaliyah Faddoul.
In the second overtime, the Monarchs held the Panthers without a shot and fired three shots that were saved by the GSU keeper, Jaddah Foos.
In penalty kicks, Faddoul went first for the Panthers and scored, as did Edwards for the Monarchs.
Diaz missed high on GSU’s second attempt and Somers followed by nailing a shot over the head of Foos to give ODU a 2-1 lead.
Bredek then dove to her left to stop Ines De Lope Casanova’s attempt. Kijowski followed with a rocket that went off of Foos’ hands, off the cross bar and banked in off of Foos’ shoulder to give the Monarchs a 3-1 lead.
Maria Andujar’s attempt went high to clinch the ODU win.
ODU outshot the Panthers 19-5 while the teams were even with four corner kicks apiece.
Bredek made two saves for ODU, while Foos had nine stops for the Panthers.
ODU takes on JMU on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. in the semifinals. JMU outlasted ULM 4-3 in penalty kicks after a scoreless tie. The Dukes won the meeting earlier this season in Harrisonburg, 3-2.