OT Win Sends Tartans to NCAA Third Round

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Sophomore Megan Bartoshuk's (Redwood City, Calif./Sequoia) goal one minute and thirty-four seconds into overtime propelled the sixth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Catholic University in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship. The Tartans improved to 16-2 on the year as Catholic finished with a 16-2-3 record.

In the first half, at 22:38, freshman Morgan Kontor (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) received a pass from senior Savina Reid (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff).  Kontor touched the ball and dribbled around the defender before firing a shot into the back of the net giving the Tartans a 1-0 edge that would hold through the half.

At the beginning of the second half, Reid had multiple shots that just missed, including one off the post and one that Catholic goalkeeper Lexi Halperin was able to swat away.

Halperin made seven saves in the second period giving life to the Cardinals who finally found the back of the net in the 87th minute. Sara Madden scored the equalizer when she finished a shot into an empty net after Tartans' sophomore goalkeeper Katie Liston (Lakewood, Ohio/Montessori HS at University Circle) made a save off a shot by Lindsay Aleman. The rebound found its way to Madden who calmly finished the shot for her fourth goal of the season.

As the first overtime period started, freshman midfielder Haili Adams (Kirkland, Wash./Juanita) took a shot from 18 yards that Halperin saved in the 91st minute.

A few seconds later a foul by Catholic in the Tartans' defensive side of the field set the stage for Bartoshuk's heroics. Sophomore defender Samantha Smith (Seattle, Wash./International Community School) served the free kick low and toward the center of the 18-yard box where junior midfielder Carson Quiros (Atlanta, Ga./Whitefield Academy) flicked a header that ran toward the right post. Bartoshuk ran onto the pass and calmly slotted a right-footed shot to the far side net for the game winner and her second goal of the tournament.

The Tartans advance to the third round of the NCAA Championship for the second time in school history and will face No. 20 Johns Hopkins University next weekend on a date and time to be determined.

Watch the winning goal.