Double OT Thriller Ends With Tartans 2-1 Win in First Round of NCAA Tournament

(WESTMINSTER, Md.) - The 15th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team advanced to the second round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship with a header by junior Helena Spencer (Warrenton, Va. / Patriot) with six minutes to play in double overtime against Trine University on Saturday, November 13 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. The Tartans are now 12-5-1 for the season while Trine closes the year at 15-5-2.

The Tartans opened the scoring in the 26th minute when freshman Maria Askounis (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Marian) scored off a corner kick served by sophomore Sarah Scoles (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville Central). The goal for Askounis is the sixth of the season and came after five other shots by the Tartans, including four that were saved by Sophie Aschemeier.

Trine's first shot of the game came in the 31st minute as graduate student Carolyn Botz (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS) made the stop.

The Tartans put the Thunder under pressure again in the second half with four shots on goal in the first 10 minutes but all were stopped by Aschemeier. 

After three offsides calls against the Tartans, Trine equalized on a goal by freshman Teresa Ashbrook in the 70th minute. The goal is just the eighth surrendered by the Tartans all year.

The Tartans had two shots in the last two minutes of regulation but junior Nikki Hasson (Torrance, Calif. / California Academy of Mathematics and Science) which was wide and Askounis which was blocked.

In overtime, Askounis had a shot saved by Aschemeier in the 94th minute before sophomore Breana Valentovish () put a shot high in the 96th minute.

The Tartans pressed in the second overtime period with three successive corner kicks. Prior to the third kick, Spencer subbed in the game and was at the back post to put in a header when Scoles served the ball in the 104th minute.

Carnegie Mellon will now face seventh-ranked McDaniel College in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, November 14 at 1:00 p.m.