The USF women’s soccer team are American Conference champions after beating #8 / #6 UCF in the conference championship tournament.
Both teams were tied at the end of regulation, forcing overtime. After two overtime period, they remained scoreless, forcing the game into penalty kicks. The two teams matched up, kick for kick for the first three rounds, before Leah Ferlin kicked the fourth USF goal.
Bulls’ goalkeeper, Kat Elliot saved the next UCF goal attempt, giving USF the unmatched advantage going into their next kick. Keilli Burney approached the line for the next kick, sending it low and to the left. The UCF keeper guessed the right direction, but was a fraction of a second late to make the save.
UCF and USF had played to a 1-1 tie on October 27th. That game also went to double overtime.
USF was ranked 25th in the NCAA Women’s Soccer RPI, prior to their championship win, which makes them automatically eligible for the NCAA tournament. The tournament will begin opening rounds this upcoming weekend.
The Bulls finish their regular season with a 13-3-1 (7-1-1) record. This is their first American Athletic Conference championship.
Video courtesy of American Athletic Conference.