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 The Edgewood College women's soccer team got a favorable bounce Sunday.
Now the Eagles have a seemingly favorable matchup in the semifinals of the Northern Athletics Conference tournament.
Sophomore midfielder Katie Pampuch (Oconomowoc) scored the lone goal after a deflected shot in the 14th minute as third-seeded Edgewood topped fifth-seeded Dominican (Ill.) 1-0 in an NAC tournament quarterfinal at rainy Breese Stevens Field.
The Eagles (14-4-1) advance to play at second-seeded Marian (12-6-0) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Fond du Lac – Edgewood beat the Sabres 2-0 on Sept. 28. The winner advances to Saturday's NAC tournament final against No. 1 seed Aurora (16-4-0) or No. 4 seed MSOE (12-7-0) with an automatic NCAA Division III tournament berth on the line.
Junior forward Kristina Santaga (Green Bay Notre Dame) stepped in front of an attempted clearance by the Stars (10-8-1), carried the ball into the box and took a shot, but the ball was blocked by a Dominican defender and bounded up into the air. It came down on the right side of the box, where Pampuch had continued her run and softly volleyed a shot over Stars goalkeeper Megan Schulz and into the net for her fourth goal of the season.
The goal proved to be enough for Edgewood, which outshot Dominican 15-5 and didn't allow a shot on goal in beating the Stars, who tied the Eagles 0-0 back on Sept. 17. Dominican beat Edgewood 2-0 in the regular season and 1-0 in overtime in the conference tournament semifinals last season.
It was the third straight clean sheet for the Eagles, who thumped Lakeland 8-0 in their NAC and regular-season finale on Wednesday. Santaga and junior forward Elaine Gerry (Sauk Prairie) each had two goals in the rout, while junior defender Ashley Alonso (McFarland) had a goal and two assists.
Men
Freshman forward Kelmend Isaj (Monroe) scored his team-best seventh goal of the year in the 29th minute and Edgewood held Maranatha Baptist (7-11-0, 2-9-0) without a shot on goal Tuesday in Watertown to earn a 1-0 victory and a spot in the NAC tournament.
But things did not go well for the fifth-seeded Eagles (8-7-3) against fourth-seeded Aurora (Ill.) in their quarterfinal match Saturday, a game that kicked off at 9:30 a.m. – meaning the team bus departed Madison at 4:30 a.m.
The host Spartans (10-8-1) grabbed the lead off a corner kick just 74 seconds into the match. Then in the 12th, Edgewood sophomore forward Andrew Aurit (Monroe) sent a header past Aurora keeper Nick Sloan only to see it bounce off the crossbar.
Two goals in a 4-minute span early in the second half sealed the victory for the Spartans, who beat the Eagles 4-1 on Sept. 24. Aurora put 14 of its 20 shots on goal, as Edgewood senior keeper Kyle Koenig (Sheboygan South) made 10 saves in 80-plus minutes in his final collegiate appearance.
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