PORTLAND, Ore.- A superb display of soccer from West Coast Conference rivals and perennial post-season powers Portland and Santa Clara ended with the ninth-seeded Broncos advancing on penalty kicks over the eighth-seeded Pilots in the third round of the NCAA Tournament at Merlo Field. A crowd of 3,440 saw the teams battle to a 0-0 tie through regulation and two 10 minute overtime periods, before the Broncos advanced with a 4-2, PK win. The game goes down as a tie in the books, as the Pilots conclude their season with an 18-3-2 overall record. Santa Clara improves to 14-3-6 and faces top-seeded North Carolina, a 7-0 third round winner over Purdue, in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Leslie Osborne, Veronica Zepeda and Kristi Candau made the first three Bronco shootout attempts, while freshman goalkeeper Julie Ryder saved the first two Pilot shots by Kristen Rogers and Lisa Sari, giving SCU a 3-0 advantage. Portland freshman Kari Evans made it 3-1 and Pilot freshman goalkeeper Cori Alexander stopped Jessica Ballweg’s shot keeping the match alive, allowing sophomore Colleen Salisbury to make it 3-2. Bronco freshman Tina Estrada capped the win with a perfectly placed shot to the lower left, sending SCU to their ninth straight NCAA quarterfinal appearance.

“Give Santa Clara a lot of credit,” said Pilot head coach Garrett Smith. “They came into a difficult place to play and found a way to win.”

Santa Clara came out firing on all cylinders in the first half, holding Portland to just a pair of shots while tallying six shot attempts of their own. The Broncos best chance came in the 27th minute when senior forward Veronica Zepeda was freed up in the right side of the penalty box on a nifty slot pass from Jessica Ballweg. Zepeda blasted a shot that hit the inside of the right post, but did not find the net. It would not be the last time that the post would play a part in the match.

SCU freshman midfielder Tiffany Roberts almost put the Broncos up earlier with a well-placed shot to the lower-right in the 22nd minute, but was denied when Alexander made the diving save. SCU clearly controlled the first 45 minutes as Portland struggled without leading scorer Lindsey Huie, who was forced to leave at the 23:19 mark with an ankle injury.

“We weathered the storm there with Huie out in the first half,” noted Smith. “The team held together with seven freshmen out there on the field.”

After the break, Portland came out the aggressors and out-shot Santa Clara by an 8-2 margin. Huie was obviously hobbled by the right ankle, but put forth a gutsy effort to help Portland counter the SCU onslaught. The Pilots maintained a majority of the time of possession with superior ball control and consistent attacks down the right flank. Freshman forward Angie Woznuk led multiple Pilot advances along with fellow freshman Kari Evans and junior defender Kristen Rogers. Much like Santa Clara’s domination in the first stanza, Portland was the more dangerous team in the second period, nearly netting goals on multiple occasions.

The right post at the north end of the field made its presence felt a second time in the 63rd minute, this time diffusing an almost certain Pilot goal. Rogers streaked down the right side and flicked a pass to Woznuk at the top of the box. Bronco keeper Julie Ryder committed and beat Woznuk to the ball, but could not maintain the handle as Woznuk gathered the loose ball. With a defender on her hip, the San Diego, Calif. native rifled a shot at the open net, only to be denied by the unforgiving post in an ironically similar fashion to Zepeda’s earlier miss.

“I almost started celebrating until I saw the ball rolling away from the goal,” said Woznuk after the match.

Two more Pilot opportunities developed late in regulation, forcing Ryder to make a pair of difficult saves. In the 77th minute, Lisa Sari was on the end of a cross from Woznuk, just five yards off the goal-line. Sari swiped a shot to the left side of the goal, but Ryder read it perfectly to make the stop. Four minutes later, Huie sent a through-ball to Woznuk down the right side. Woznuk crossed over from right-to-left, and unleashed a 10 yard shot to the far post. Ryder snagged the attempt at its peak to maintain the shutout and send the match to overtime.

The Broncos countered with a late run in the first overtime, keeping the ball within the Pilot goal box for what seemed to be an eternity. Megan Kakadelas had her shot blocked, but it found Estrada between a few Portland defenders just five yards off the goal-line in on the right side of the goal box. Estrada got a foot on the rebound, but Alexander held her line nicely and ended the threat with a sliding stop.

Neither keeper was forced to make a stop in the second overtime, and the match was settled by the shootout. An evenly played contest correlated on the stat sheet as SCU held a slim 13-11 shot advantage. Both keepers made six saves to preserve shutouts, while the Broncos held a 4-1 advantage on corner kicks. Portland was called offsides nine times, the highest single-game total of the season.

“For me, it’s the first time ever to win a game on penalty kicks as a player or a coach,” noted Bronco head coach Jerry Smith. “It’s unfortunate that a UP/Santa Clara game had to be played in such an early round. They showed how equal the two teams are ... it’s the type of game you hate to see someone lose. For their seniors to go out in the round of 16 is unfortunate, they are a Final Four caliber team.”

“It’s unfortunate it had to go to a shootout,” Pilot coach Garrett Smith said afterwards. “That was two of the top teams in the country playing each other. This game should have been seen around the country, not just here in Portland.”