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 The season ended for the UW-Milwaukee and Marquette women's soccer teams against Big Ten Conference teams Friday in North Carolina, along with the careers of two players whose accomplishments over the past four years will be prominently featured in the NCAA Division I record book.
Senior Sarah Hagen (Appleton North) scored on the final touch of her career, curling in a free kick from 19 yards out in the 90th minute, but it was the only shot on goal for the 15th-ranked Panthers in their 2-1 loss to Ohio State in an NCAA tournament second-round match in Durham, N.C.
Meanwhile, senior goalkeeper Natalie Kulla made three saves but saw No. 13 Penn State score twice in the final five minutes to pull away for a 4-1 win over the 12th-ranked Golden Eagles in another second-round game in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Hagen closed her career ranked in the top 20 in NCAA history in four categories: She is ninth all-time with 93 goals, tied with U.S. national teamer Christie (Pearce) Rampone of Monmouth (1993 to ' 96) for 15th with 212 points, 12th in goals per game (1.08) and 17th with an average of 2.47 points per game.
But other than her free kick with 15 seconds left, the Panthers (19-3-0) struggled to create chances against the Buckeyes (12-8-2) in the match at Duke's Koskinen Stadium. Ohio State had a 21-10 advantage in shots, with the Panthers managing only two in the first half.
"I was a little disappointed with our play building into the attack," said UWM coach Michael Moynihan, whose team set a program record for wins and earned the school's first NCAA tournament victory last weekend in the first round. "Ohio State deserves some credit for pressuring our midfield pretty well, and taking away a lot of the rhythm of the game that we normally establish."
Paige Maxwell put Ohio State ahead, ripping a shot from just inside the box past Panthers junior Jamie Forbes in the 68th. Caitlyn Martin added what proved to be a vital insurance goal for the Buckeyes in the 85th, slotting a shot past Forbes inside the near post from 15 yards out.
"After the game, we didn't want to focus on breaking this game down too much," Moynihan said after UWM's ninth NCAA appearance. "It's an emotional moment for us. We've had a phenomenal year and achieved a lot of program firsts. We'll look back on a lot of fond memories of a special group."
The sentiments were similar for the Golden Eagles 80 miles west at Spry Stadium on the Wake Forest campus.
Marquette (18-4-0) fell behind in the ninth minute and trailed 2-0 at halftime and for most of the second half, but pulled within a goal in the 83rd when senior defender Kerry McBride (Elm Grove/Milwaukee DSHA) – the two-time Big East Conference Defender of the Year – scored off a set piece. Sophomore forward Maegan Kelly earned an assist on the goal, making her just the second player in team history to reach 40 points in a season (Kate Gordon had 49 in 2000).
But sophomore Maya Hayes, the nation's leading goal scorer, assured the Big Ten champion Nittany Lions of passage into Sunday's third round with her 28th and 29th goals of the season by finishing off breakaways in the 85th and 87th minutes.
It was the first time Marquette allowed four goals in a match since a 5-0 loss at Connecticut back on Sept. 30, 2007. Kulla finished her career second in NCAA Division I history with 43 shutouts, one behind Rutgers' Erin Guthrie (2006 to '09), and in the top 15 in minutes played.
"All of us are disappointed that we lost this match," said Golden Eagles coach Markus Roeders, whose team was making its 10th NCAA trip. "The score isn't indicative of how the game played out on the field, but give Penn State credit for being efficient with their chances and score those goals. We always play aggressive and that is part of our style and success. We are proud of how hard our team worked to get back in it, the third goal proved to be the dagger and sealed the game.
"Once we have some time to reflect, we will look back on a fantastic season and an incredible group of young ladies who represented Marquette and the program extremely well. It is hard to put into words the contributions of our three seniors, Natalie, Kerry and Lindsey (Page), but they will go down among the best and brightest who have ever wore a Marquette uniform."
NCAA Division III
Freshman Anna Seabolt netted her 11th and 12th goals of the season and senior Jaime Orewiler added her 13th as sixth-ranked Wheaton (Ill.) scored three times in a 19-minute span in the first half and cruised to a 4-1 victory over visiting UW-Whitewater in a third-round match.
Seabolt also assisted on Ali Kopelman's goal in the 55th as the Thunder (21-1-2) took a 4-0 lead before sophomore defender Jessica Allemang (Wauwatosa West) got the Warhawks (14-5-3) on the board two minutes later with her first of the season.
Senior midfielder Emily Gerber (DeForest) set up Allemang's goal, extending her school record with her 12th assist of the season. Gerber closed her career as Whitewater's career leader in goals and points, ranks second in assists and holds team marks for goals, assists and points in a season.
The Warhawks outshot Wheaton 11-10 on the night, but the Thunder put seven of their shots on frame and scored on four of them. Freshman keeper Jordan Myers finished with three saves for Whitewater, which had its 12-game unbeaten snapped as it was eliminated from its first NCAA appearance.
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