The semifinal match-up was scoreless through the first 22 minutes when junior midfielder Page Miller (left) took a pass from sophomore defender Nikki Bruscino and ripped a shot from the top of the penalty area that went over Notre Dame goalie Emilie LaMarche’s hands, off the inside of the crossbar, and into the net to give MVNU (13-4-1), which is ranked 25th in the final NAIA poll, an early 1-0 lead. The goal was Miller’s eighth of the season and the 19th of her career as she moved into fifth place in school history.

Less than three minutes later, freshman forward Jessica Estep took a pass from senior forward Kristy Brandolini and converted a breakaway opportunity with a shot past LaMarche, who came charging out to stop Estep, as the Lady Cougars’ moved in front 2-0. For Estep, it was her team-leading 20th goal of the year, while Brandolini registered her team-high 15th assist and the 48th of her career as she is now just four assists shy of tying the school record of 52 set by former MVNU standout Catherine Hess.

Brandolini got into the scoring act in the 32nd minute when she scored on an indirect kick as sophomore midfielder Erin Miller was credited with the assist on the play as the Lady Cougars’ lead grew to 3-0. The goal was Brandolini’s 13th of the year and the school-record 69th of her career.

In the second half, Estep (right) scored her second goal of the match and her 21st of the season when she followed up her own initial shot with a shot off a Notre Dame defender to give MVNU a 4-0 lead in the 57th minute.

The Falcons (13-4-2) avoided being shut out in the 84th minute when Jessica Mazzorato stole the ball from the Lady Cougars’ defense in the box and scored to make the final margin 4-1.

MVNU sophomore goalkeeper Jenessa Loewen stopped six shots, while LaMarche finished with five saves. Notre Dame out-shot the Lady Cougars 17-14 and led in corner kicks 3-2, but MVNU held a 9-7 edge in shots on goal.

“We are really excited about this win,” said MVNU head coach Jonathan Meade. “I thought we came out and played a very good first half and did what we needed to do to make it difficult on Notre Dame. The goal in the second half kind of just sealed it for us. It was nice to get a lot of players in and to be able to rest some key players. I guess it probably could not have gone any better unless we could have gotten the shutout. I was happy for our forwards (Jessica and Kristy) getting goals today to keep their confidence up. Page and Challyn (Dobson) played well in the midfield, too, and Challyn especially did a nice job of moving the ball around.”

The second semifinal match featured a defensive battle between second-seeded and 20th-ranked Ohio Dominican University (14-3-1) and third-seeded Houghton (N.Y.) College (11-2-3), who had met at the beginning of the regular season with Ohio Dominican prevailing 2-0 on its home field on August 24.

This time around the match was scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation with Houghton holding a 10-4 advantage in total shots and a 5-2 edge in shots on goal. With the score still 0-0, the match moved into the first of two 10-minute sudden victory overtime periods.

With 3:42 left in the first overtime, Houghton goalkeeper Lauren Foster received a yellow card for a foul in the box resulting in a penalty kick opportunity for the Lady Panthers. Kelsey Buck lined up for potential game-winning shot, but she fired it directly at Foster, who stopped it to keep the Highlanders’ season alive.

After the completion of the first and second overtime periods with the match still scoreless, the match moved into a shootout to determine who would advance to the championship match to face the Lady Cougars.

In the shootout, Hannah Swift (left), the American Mideast Conference North Division Player of the Year, went first for Houghton and made her shot to put the Highlanders in front 1-0. After Kristen Redd missed her shot off the left post for Ohio Dominican, Mandy Lewandowski buried her shot to extend Houghton’s lead to 2-0. Krissie Sparks, the Lady Panthers’ goalkeeper and the AMC South Divisio Player of the Year, went next but missed high with her shot. Rebecca Smith gave the Highlanders a 3-0 lead with her shot, but Sarah Deger scored for Ohio Dominican to keep the Lady Panthers’ hopes alive trailing 3-1. However, Amy-Kaye Mitchell scored for Houghton as the Highlanders advanced 4-1.

Houghton finished the match with a 13-8 lead in total shots, a 6-4 edge in shots on goal, and a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks. Foster posted three saves for the Highlanders in goal, while Sparks stopped five shots in registering her 13th shutout of the year.  (BOXSCORE)

The shootout victory sets up a meeting of MVNU and Houghton in the championship match on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Cougar Field. The Highlanders, who have made seven trips to the NAIA national tournament since 1998, are 8-0 all-time against the Lady Cougars including a 5-1 victory in 2004 in MVNU’s only other appearance in the NAIA Region IX championship match. Houghton won the most recent meeting 2-1 in overtime on the Highlanders’ home field on October 21, 2006.

“We are looking forward to the match tomorrow,” said Meade. “I think Houghton will be a good challenge for us. We haven’t played them this year, but it seems like every time we play them it is always a good match. We definitely aren’t taking them too lightly.”

The winner of the NAIA Region IX championship match will receive an automatic berth into the NAIA national tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida, on November 14-20.