Dowling women's soccer team wins on penalty kicks, advances to 2nd round

After 90 regulation minutes and two 10-minute overtime periods of scoreless action, yesterday's NCAA Division II East Regional between visiting Dowling and Southern New Hampshire (15-5-3) came down to penalty kicks.

It was a happy ride home for Dowling.

Goalkeeper Melissa Guglielmo made a pair of penalty-kick saves and Ally Abruzzo scored on the final attempt to lift No. 4 Dowling over No. 5 Southern New Hampshire, 5-4, in penalty kicks.

Dowling (14-3-2) advances to the second round and will play at top-seeded LIU Post at noon Sunday.

Guglielmo and Southern New Hampshire goalkeeper Maggie Weldon stopped the first penalty kick they faced, but after that the advantage went to the kickers as each team scored on its next four shots.

Guglielmo put Dowling in position to win by making a save on the sixth shot she faced. Guglielmo, who had five saves during regulation, dived to her left to make a stop on a shot by Tara Murphy. Enter Abruzzo, who kept Dowling's playoff season alive, drilling a shot low to the left that Weldon couldn't stop.

Gabriella D'Aprile, Taylor Messina, Molly Bishop and Kayla Mueger scored the other four penalty-kick goals for Dowling.

Dowling struggled to find any offense during regulation play, failing to get a shot on goal until the second overtime. Its best chance to win it before penalty kicks came when Allie Merrill had a strong look at the net, but Southern New Hampshire starting goalkeeper Samantha Whitter made the save to keep it scoreless.