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INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team used a perfect showing in penalty kicks to outlast Cleveland State in a Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal thriller, advancing to Thursday night's (Nov. 2) semifinals against Northern Kentucky. The teams played 110 minutes to a 1-1 draw before the Jags outgunned the Vikings 4-2 in penalty kicks. Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year Sophia Lipka came up huge in PK's, stopping a pair of attempts to keep IUPUI's season alive. 

IUPUI (13-5-2) attempted a school record 37 shots, but put just one away as Valentine Pursey netted the equalizer in the 79th minute after IUPUI had trailed for more than 40 minutes prior.

"We knew we had to get one when time was coming down," Pursey said. "When we did, we stepped up and everyone kind of switched back on from there. From there, we did it." 

Cleveland State solved Lipka in the 37th minute when Lorenzo buried a hatchet in the Jaguars' postseason plans. The ball popped out wide to Lorenzo after McKenna Vento had a ball knocked down by an IUPUI defender. Lorenzo did the dirty work from there, blasting a shot from beyond 30 yards out, easily over Lipka for her fourth score of the year. 

That said, the match resembled a shell drill for the Jaguars for much of the first half as IUPUI fired repeatedly at CSU (9-9-1) goalkeeper Jamie Daniels. However, the tall, rangy keeper continued to keep IUPUI off the board, vying time for her offense to take a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute. Junior Braegan Lyon hit two bullets right at Daniels in the first half and Pursey also tested her twice in the opening stanza. 

IUPUI continued to fire at will and earn corner kick opportunities in the second half, but it came down to Pursey's brilliant strike to get IUPUI even. Sophomore Bri Denny earned an assist by simply sending a throw-in to the Jaguars' top scorer and watching her work from there. Pursey maneuvered to her right before driving a shot from 35 yards out into the upper-right corner of the net. 

IUPUI outshot Cleveland State 11-2 in the two overtime periods, but the visiting Vikings had a pair of near misses, courtesy of Horizon League Freshman of the Year Jenna Prathapa. In the 103rd minute, Lipka snuffed out a Prathapa attempt from the left side to keep the game alive. Less than a minute later, the CSU attacker rolled a cross through the IUPUI six-yard box, just missing connecting with Grace Grant at the far post. IUPUI's final shot of the night was a desperation attempt from senior Hayley Shelton with the final seconds ticking down, but went just over the bar. 

After the teams regrouped and prepared for penalty kicks, IUPUI sent the tone as freshman Miranda Ricks buried her initial attempt and Lipka engulfed Sydney Duggan's first try, diving to her right to stake the Jags to an early lead. 

"It felt really good to give my team that confidence they needed and the confidence I needed by stopping the first one," Lipka said. "It was nice [to stop the first one]."

Shelton and CSU's Katie Bainbridge each finished their attempts before Sarah Jacobs and Prathapa followed suit. Lyon pushed the advantage to 4-2 by calmly completing her PK and Lipka set off the celebration by stopping Ashley Thiss' attempt to seal the outcome. 

"I was trying not to think," Lipka said of PK's. "I didn't want to get to [PK's], but once we got there, I tried not to think about it."

Lipka made three saves in 110 minutes and continued her 2017 brilliance. Daniels was equally brilliant with seven saves at the other end. In addition to IUPUI's 37 shots, the Jaguars also had a school record 18 corner kicks. Nine different IUPUI players had multiple shot attempts as Krissy Kirkhoff had eight opportunities and Pursey had six. That was a stark contract to the regular season meeting when CSU outshot the Jaguars 20-11 in IUPUI's 1-0 overtime victory.

Kirkhoff upped her season total to 78 shot attempts, sitting one shy of tying the program's single-season mark of 79 set by Tara Latella in 2000.

IUPUI will earn a much anticipated rematch with Northern Kentucky after playing the Norse to an electrifying 1-1 draw in the regular season finale. That match will be at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday night (Nov. 2) and be broadcast on ESPN3.