Box Score by Benny Benton
BELMONT, N.C. – Barton College's Jodi Barber scored with just over seven minutes to play to force overtime, but after two scoreless extra periods, Belmont Abbey College won a shootout, 4-2, on Thursday to advance to the Conference Carolinas Women's Soccer Tournament championship game.
The match will go in the record books as a tie, moving the second-seeded Crusaders to 14-3-2 on the year and the third-seeded Lady Bulldogs to 14-5-1. However, the shootout setback put an end to Barton's finest season since 2005.
On the same day she was named the Conference Carolinas Offensive Player of the Year, Barber kept her team's hopes of a tournament title alive when she finished a cross from Taylor Parrish in the 83rd minute to tie the match at 1-all.
The score gave Barber, a sophomore transfer from Maysville, N.C., 16 goals and 41 points in her first season with the Lady Bulldogs, which led the conference in both categories. She also shared the league lead in assists with nine. For Parrish, the assist was her fifth of the year and her 21st point, both among the top 10 in the conference.
The Crusaders, ranked fifth in the latest NSCAA/Continental Tire Southeast Region Top-10 Poll, had a great opportunity to respond to Barber's goal just one minute later, getting two shots at an unguarded net. Meghan Philp maneuvered past Barton keeper Carson Moore to find an open goal, but her shot hit the right post. Ananda Gebreyesus quickly followed off the rebound, but her attempt plunked the crossbar.
Philp did find the net at the end of regulation, but her goal came well after the final horn had sounded, sending the match into overtime.
Barton had three shots in the first overtime period, two saved by Belmont Abbey keeper Hannah Kohls and the third blocked by a defender. Neither team made an attempt in the second overtime frame.
In the shootout, the Crusaders made all four of their attempts, while Barton missed a pair of shots, one wide right and one off the post.
The evenly played match saw Belmont Abbey take a total of 14 shots in the match, six on goal, and Barton attempt 13, five of those on goal. Kohls, named the league's First-Team All-Conference keeper on Thursday, had five saves for the Crusaders, while Moore, who was accorded that honor last year, posted four saves.
Laura Shelton got the only shot past Moore, scoring her first goal of the year on a shot from the top of the box in the 39th minute off an assist from Robyn Hatcher,
Belmont Abbey will host Sunday's title game, where the Crusaders hope to claim their eighth tournament crown.
While it fell just short of reaching the title match, Barton could take solace in some remarkable achievements. The Lady Bulldogs made it into the tournament for the first time since 2008 and won a tournament game for the first time since 2005. This year's team won more matches than the previous four seasons combined, and scored more goals than the previous two seasons combined. The Lady Bulldogs were picked to finish ninth in the league, but tied for third.
