WashU players celebrate winning Thursday’s national semifinal game against Messiah. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
| NCAA National Semifinal | 1 | 2 | 1OT | 2OT | PKs | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 WashU (17-1-4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| #5 Messiah (21-2-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
| Time | Team | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 15:38 |  | Meryl McKenna (5) GOAL By WASHU McKenna, Meryl. |
| 42:46 |  | Kristina Akselsen (8) Assisted By: Hannah Adair GOAL By MU Akselsen, Kristina Assist By Adair, Hannah. |
Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer
SALEM, VA — The incredible 2023 Washington University women’s soccer season will come down to one game.
That’s because the Bears pulled out another overtime-penalty kick thriller win Thursday night. This time, it was 4-2, over Messiah University in an NCAA Division III national semifinal game at Robert Morris’ Kerr Stadium.
With the win WashU (17-1-4) will now play California Lutheran (18-1-6) in the NCAA Division III National Championship Game on Saturday at 11 a.m.
If the Bears will, it will be the program’s second national championship in women’s soccer. The first came in 2016. Cal Lutheran has never played in an NCAA title game before.
Thursday’s WashU match against Messiah went to overtime tied 1-1. Neither team could score in either overtime period, so the match went to penalty kicks.
WashU’s Jessica Greven took the first attempt and scored. Messiah’s Hannah Adair took her team’s first shot, but it was saved by WashU goalkeeper Sidney Conner.
Grace Ehlert’s shot was saved by Messiah goalkeeper Ava Wert and Julia Martin made her kick to tie things up 1-1.
Senior Tyler Wilson followed with a made shot and Conner then stopped Kristina Akselsen’s attempt for a 2-1 Bears’ edge.
Anna Viscovich netted her shot and Kaitlyn Laird followed with a made shot for the Falcons.
Ally Hackett sealed the deal for the Bears with a made shot to send WashU to the national championship game for the fourth time in program history.
WashU got on the board first at the 15:38 mark as Meryl McKenna got a foot on the ball which was deflected by a defender and flew past the diving goalkeeper.
With less than three minutes remaining in the first half, Akselsen scored on a pass from Adair to make it 1-1.
After a scoreless first overtime, the Bears nearly ended things with 12 seconds left as a breakaway shot for Ehlert was stopped by Wert.
WashU edged Messiah 17-15 in shots while each had seven on goal.
Conner made six saves in the net, plus her two saves in the penalty kick round. Four of those saves came in the first half.
2023 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championships
Semifinals – Thursday, Nov. 30 – Salem, Va. (Kerr Stadium)
Semifinal 1 – Cal Lutheran (18-1-5) vs. Tufts (11-5-4) – Cal Lutheran won PKs
Semifinal 2 – #5 Messiah (21-2) vs. #2 WashU (17-1-3) – WashU won PKs
National Championship Game – Saturday, Dec. 2 – Salem, Va. (Kerr Stadium)
Championship Game – Cal Lutheran (18-1-6) vs. WashU (17-1-4) – 3 pm – Watch