ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the first Patriot League Semifinal game of the day, Navy and Loyola battled for over 110 minutes and were forced to decide who advances in the single-elimination tournament via penalty kick shootout. At the end of five nerve-wracking rounds of penalty kicks, the Mids deposited four of its attempts versus three for the Greyhounds to move along to the championship final on Sunday afternoon. Officially, the final score of Friday's contest was a 1-1 draw.
 
Navy's victory came from a variety of sources as sophomore Gina Peraino (Downingtown, Pa.) scored the Mids' only goal in regulation for her first career marker, while Navy's go-ahead penalty kick came from junior Emily Keast (Springfield, Va.) in round five. As Navy's goalkeeper, Sydney Fortson (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) held Loyola to one goal in regulation, in addition to making a save on the Greyhounds' Nicole Rivas in the penalty kick portion of the contest.
 
"We played good soccer, but came out against a hungry Loyola team that had some moments during the game," remarked head coach Carin Gabarra. "The wind played a little bit of a factor today as whoever had the wind had an advantage for that half. I'm proud of the way that we stayed composed and stayed playing our brand of soccer for the most part. When push came to shove in the big moments like the PKs, we came through.
 
"I'm proud of all of our players. Everyone had a role, everyone played a part. Everyone that came into the game had an impact. We rotated a lot of players in today, 110 minutes isn't easy so our depth played an important role for us in this game. Loyola is a very good team and they came back and took us out of our comfort zone and put us on our heels a bit. We weren't used to that, but we responded and stayed composed. At the end of the day, we did what we needed to do."
 
The top-seeded Midshipmen controlled the majority of the action in the first half with an 8-1 advantage in shots. Keast tallied the game's first shot on goal in the 23rd minute as she juked a Loyola defender and dribbled into the box before ripping a low shot on the Greyhounds' goalkeeper, Paige Sim. Navy received another high-quality look less than two minutes later when Kaitlyn McKeown (Fr., Newbury Park, Calif.) laid off a pass to a charging Baseley McClaskey (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo.), who didn't hesitate and connected for a hard strike just over the crossbar towards the upper-90.
 
Though unable to score in that situation, that wouldn't be the last time McClaskey would try and leave her mark on the contest. After earning a corner kick opportunity as Loyola deflected an Alex Jackson (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) shot out wide past the end line, McClaskey stepped to the corner flag and lofted a soft floating ball that passed over the hands of Sim to the elevated foot of Peraino. All the sophomore needed to do was redirect the ball into the back of the net to put Navy up 1-0 at 42:35.
 
That goal sent Navy into the locker room riding high and just 45 minutes away from moving onto the finals. The action in the second half opened with the Mids testing Sim again in the 51st minute with a Keast shot on goal. Navy would tack on three more shots over the next 20 minutes, though none on target.
 
With the score still 1-0 and Loyola holding onto a glimmer of life, the visitors started putting together a focused attack for that game-tying goal. As the clock ticked under 12 minutes, Hannah Hoefs, the Patriot League Midfielder of the Year, struck a deep, curling corner kick that bounded into the back of the net at 78:02.
 
Neither team could muster a go-ahead goal over the last 11:58 of play and the game moved onto overtime. The first 10 overtime period was devoid of quality chances and both teams went shot-less and the game quickly advanced to the second overtime. The Mids ratcheted up its offensive effort and took aim for the goal within 35 seconds as Carolyn Mang (So., River Hill, Md.) forced Sim to make a save on her shot. Another strong opportunity came a little over a minute later when McClaskey whipped a cross into the box to a waiting Jeana Freeman (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.), who turned and put a shot towards goal only to have a Loyola defender block the attempt. Navy's last chance to earn the victory in the flow of play came in the 109th minute when Victoria Tran (So., Clarksville, Md.) put a shot on goal.
 
Still tied and in need a victor to advance to the Patriot League Championship Finals, the game moved onto penalty kicks. Navy found itself in a quick 1-0 deficit in the five-round shootout as Sim made a save on Peraino's attempt. The second round saw Jackson put the Mids on the scoreboard, though the Greyhounds' Sabrina Daglish answered in the bottom of the frame to make it 2-1. After Gabby Gordon (So., Fairfax, Va.) pulled Navy even in the top of the third round, Fortson flexed her All-Patriot League First Team acumen with a save on Nicole Rivas' shot. Knotted at 2-2, both McClaskey and Loyola's Kate Reese made their shots to send it to the fifth round tied at 3-3. Keast was first up and calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net to go up 4-3. With the chance to extend the shootout, Julia Gray hit her shot straight into the crossbar and with that the Mids charged in from midfield to rejoice with Fortson in their goal box.
 
"Penalty kicks are all about being composed and getting within yourself to find the focus to do what you've trained for," said Gabarra about the Mids' offensive plan for the shootout. "On the opposition side of the equation, Sydney Fortson was great for us today in PKs. She was prepared and stayed confident throughout the five rounds."
 
For the game, Navy outshot Loyola, 17-3 with a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Navy also led Loyola in the corner kick statistical category, 5-1.
 
Friday's penalty kick shootout was just the second such situation in the history of the Navy women's soccer program and first-ever in the Patriot League Tournament for the Mids. The only previous time came in the 2006 NCAA Tournament versus William & Mary on Nov. 10 following a 0-0 tied. Navy advanced 5-4 over William & Mary in that instance.
 
With Friday night's result, the Mids advance to Sunday's Patriot League Championship Final versus the third-seeded Army Black Knights, who defeated Holy Cross in the second semifinal by a score of 2-1. Kickoff between the service academy rivals is set for 1 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.