BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – West Virginia Wesleyan won the Mountain East Conference Championship against Concord University on Sunday afternoon at Cebe Ross Field. The game needed penalty kicks to be decided after a scoreless 110-minute contest. West Virginia Wesleyan won the shootout 3-2 after Natalie Pireau converted on a penalty kick to secure the title.
The game featured 21 total shots on goal with the Bobcats tallying 14 over the course of the contest. Shannon Shawgo paced West Virginia Wesleyan (13-1-4) with four shots on goal, followed by Natalie Prater with three. Makatlyn Tucker, Kayla Fay, and Carolyn Saulle all added two shots on goal for the Bobcats.
Mira Kontio registered two shots on goal for Concord (12-4-4) with five other Mountain Lions adding one shot on frame in the game.
Katie Maher made 14 saves in goal for the Mountain Lions. Chelsea Hubner notched two for the Bobcats with Ashlee Schumacher adding five for the Bobcats.
West Virginia Wesleyan threatened late in the first half but Concord’s defender Alyssa Mahar made a key block and keeper Maher added a save to keep the Bobcats off the board.
In the 77th minute, Bobcat keeper Ashlee Schumacher made two saves within a seven-second span, and neither team was able to score in regulation, sending the contest into overtime.
West Virginia Wesleyan tallied three shots on goal in the first three minutes of the first overtime, but Maher answered the call again for Concord. The Mountain Lions had the momentum early in the second overtime after Kontio took a shot from three-yards out, but Schumacher made the save to end the threat.
In penalty kicks, Kontio led off with a conversion before Maher stopped the first attempt by West Virginia Wesleyan. The Mountain Lions missed their next three shots and trailed 2-1 going into the fifth round after Saulle and Orian Bar converted their attempts for the Bobcats.
Yasmin Mosby found the back of the net to give Concord some momentum, but West Virginia Wesleyan’s Pireau hit her penalty kick to secure the title for the Bobcats.
West Virginia Wesleyan secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show airs Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Story by the Mountain East Conference.
2018 All-Tournament Team
Katarina Doncevic (Notre Dame)
Kaelyn Oskin (West Liberty)
Yasmin Mosby (Concord)
Leah Foster (Concord)
Courtney Wallace (Concord)
Morgan Carmichael (Concord)
Katie Maher (Concord)
Isabella Salas (West Virginia Wesleyan)
MaKatlyn Tucker (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Natalie Prater (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Chelsea Hubner (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Shannon Shawgo (West Virginia Wesleyan
