Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Westfield State University women’s soccer team advanced in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history by eliminating Stevens Institute of Technology in penalty kicks on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Westifield, 15-3-2, played to a 1-1 deadlock with the host school Stevens Institute in 110 minutes of action. The Owls then calmly controlled the penalty kicks, outscoring the Ducks, 5-3.

The Owls return to action Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Stevens Institute and will play either Williams College or Virginia Wesleyan in a second round game.

“Williams is really good and I don’t know how Virginia Wesleyan is but we reached our goal (of advancing),” said Westfield coach Todd Ditmar. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow, we have nothing to lose.”

After a scoreless first half, Stevens took a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute on a free kick from 23 yards by Kathleen Schuckers. Westfield junior standout Kayley Miller (Ludlow) netted the equalizer in the 76th minute when she scored an unassisted goal off a failed clear attempt.

“Stevens had some big, strong players – 5-10, 5-11, six feet,” said Ditmar. “But we thought we could play with them.”

Westfield took the first penalty kick and freshman Ashleigh Chretien (North Attleboro) gave the Owls a 1-0 lead. The Stevens goalie got a piece of Chretien’s shot but the ball rolled inside the left post.

On Stevens’ first attempt, Caitlyn Labonte’s shot was no good as it hit the left post.

Both teams scored on their next three attempts. Miller and junior Colleen Bazinet (Charlton) coolly hit the back of the net on the right side and freshman Maggie Kerr (Shrewsbury) duplicated the feat on the left side.

Katelyn Wood (Suffield, CT) - the third freshmen to take a penalty kick - then clinched the big NCAA Tournament game for the Owls when she calmly placed the ball in the back of the net inside the right post.

“We had two non-starters (Kerr, Wood) in there for penalty kicks but we practiced (penalty kicks) all week and those were our top five,” said Ditmar. Also, the Owls played without standout junior midfielder/forward Leann Rivard, who is sidelined with a season-ending injury.

Stevens outshot Westfield, 30-17, and Owl sophomore goalie Jess Habif (Holliston) stood out with 15 saves.

“Habif was outstanding, she made some incredible saves,” said Ditmar.

Ironically, freshman Nicky Stasz (Easthampton) replaced Habif in goal for the penalty kicks.

“Nicky is better at penalty kicks than Jess,” said Ditmar. “We even talked about it (prior to the penalty kicks) and Jess, even though she was outstanding during the game, said Nicky should be in there.”