Nov. 7, 2008

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Freshman Kate Herren (Auburn, Wash.) scored her first career game-winner just 5:52 into the first overtime period leading the top-seeded Navy women's soccer team (15-3-3) to a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Colgate (7-11-1) in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals Friday in front of a season-high crowd at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.

Navy's first-year midfielder was trailing the play as her senior teammate Kristen Laraway (Long Valley, N.J.) made a spirited run down the left flank and sent a right-footed blast that Colgate's rookie keeper Rebecca Michlin was able to push off the right-inside post.

The rebound caromed out and to the left and a charging Herren won the footrace to the loose ball and promptly put home the overtime winner to send the Mids to the league final for a third consecutive season.

"I was just in the right place at the time," said Herren of her 96th-minute game-winner. "Kristen really made a terrific run and I thought her shot was headed in. I had fallen behind the play a bit, but as soon as I saw it hit the post, I jumped on it."

"It was a very entertaining match to watch - both teams were attacking all-out and there was endline-to-endline action the whole way through," said Navy head coach Carin Gabarra. "As the time started to narrow down, we got some adrenaline and started to get our energy back. We kept running at them and we kept inserting players that would take chances and take shots and eventually, it paid off."

Both teams had good looks at the goal early on in the first half of action, but each came away empty-handed.

A Colgate corner in the fifth minute took an opportunistic bounce for the Raiders and fell to the foot of freshman midfielder Danielle Wessler, who quickly turned and fired a shot to the near post. Wessler, a second-team all-league selection, appeared to have a chance for her team-leading fifth-goal of the season, but fortunately for the Mids, freshman defender Katelyn George (Loveland, Ohio) was in perfect position and was able to clear the ball off the goalline.

Navy, who generated eight shots in the half (four of which were put on goal), had its best chance of the period some 15 minutes later as senior captain Julie Reynolds' (Sherman, Conn.) diving header on classmate Elise McCaskey's (Butler, Pa) free kick nearly beat Colgate's keeper to the near post.

Reynolds, who seven days prior scored the game-winner against the Raiders in almost identical fashion, did well to flick the ball on net, but Michlin, who made four saves in the period and seven on the night, managed to get a hand on it and deflect it out of play.

The two teams played a hotly-contested second half, but neither side was able to break through after 90 minutes of action.

The Raiders held a 7-2 shot advantage over the second stanza, but it wasn't until a late-minute flurry that Navy keeper Lizze Barnes (New Orleans, La.) was tested .

Junior and first-team all-star Jillian Arnault nearly broke the deadlock with just 1:11 left to play in regulation. Arnault fired a bending 20-yard blast that appeared to have a chance for the far corner, but Barnes, the 2008 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, lunged to her left and pushed the ball out of harm's way.

The fourth-seeded Raiders kept the pressure on until the final whistle and forced Barnes to make her second save of the evening just moments later on a Liz Polido shot with 28 ticks left on the clock.

"In the first half, I think we created some good chances that we didn't put away, but we kept going after it," added Gabarra. "At the start of the second half, I thought they played extremely well and possessed the ball for most of that first 30 minutes.

"We really were trying to find that right combination of players that could strike the ball well. We were getting the ball forward a lot, but weren't really getting too many shots off of our runs. We got the players in there that could strike the ball well. Kristen has done that for us all year. She followed the gameplan exactly, had a great shot and Kate did well to get there and put it in."

The Mids produced the only four shots in the extra session to give them a 14-10 advantage on the evening, while Colgate drew seven corners to Navy's three. Herren and her Midshipmen teammates will face archrival Army on Sunday for the Patriot League Tournament title and a berth in the 2008 NCAA College Cup. Game time is slated for 1:00 pm.

Notes: Navy is now unbeaten in its last 12 games (10-0-2) - a stretch during which the Mids have outscored the opposition by a 24-3 margin ... Barnes has not allowed a goal in five career league postseason games - a span of 450 minutes ... Navy has now played a school-record seven overtime games this season ... the Mids remain unbeaten with a 4-0-3 mark in those contests ... Navy has won seven consecutive league postseason contests ... a boisterous crowd of 725 fans turned out to see the Mids' semifinal win.

### Go Navy ###