Wisconsin Soccer Central

Perhaps Monday morning's USL Super-Y League North American girls Under-15 final in Bradenton, Fla., was destined to go to penalty kicks.

After all, Mequon United and Pennsylvania's Super Nova FC had played to a tie two days earlier, and both teams had a history of penalties at the event – the Wisconsin team in last year's Under-14 final and Super Nova in Sunday's semifinals.

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, shots from the spot beckoned. And Mequon United turned in a perfect performance to claim the club's first Super-Y League title.

Kelli Ausman (Mequon Homestead) saved two of Super Nova's penalties and the third hit the crossbar, and all three Mequon United shooters converted for a 3-0 shootout victory following a 0-0 draw. The teams tied 1-1 in a group finale Saturday.

"For the first time in all the years that we've been with the Super-Y, this is our first national championship, and we're just so happy," Mequon coach Carlos "Cacho" Córdoba said in an article on the USL website.

Mequon United, which finished 3-0-2 at the tournament, hit the crossbar twice in the first half of the final. Ausman, meanwhile, stopped a breakaway by Super Nova's Taylor Chapman in the 70th minute to keep the match scoreless.

"It's a relief right now," Cordoba said. "We've been through a lot of injuries this year. We had two here, and we've got three more at home, and (Sunday) night we didn't know if we'd even be able to put together a starting lineup because we've got some girls with ankle problems. But this is is a situation where the players have to understand that there's a little bit more that they have to give. And the girls did it."

The Mequon team is the Fusion Under-16 team, which won the Wisconsin State Championship in the fall. Mequon SC and Grafton SC combine to form select and high school teams as the Fusion, while the clubs operate independently at other levels. The Super-Y season is in June and July, which is why this team qualified as Under-15.