The No. 1 seeded Wilkes University Women’s Soccer team snuck past No. 4 seeded Eastern University in their semifinal matchup in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Tournament with a goal in the 103rd minute of play.

With tons of opportunities to score in regulation, the Lady Colonels just could not land a shot on goal.  In the 22nd minute of the game, a loose ball resulted in the first chance to score, but Nicolette Towlen’s shot on goal was defended by the Eagle goalkeeper, Adrianna Rowlands.

The next scoring opportunity for either side came in the 30th minute.  Eastern University’s corner kick, however, was cleared by the Lady Colonels.

Wilkes’ next chance came with a long pass from Emily Wirth to Jessica Egan who was wide open running down the middle of the field.  This was ruled an offsides by the officials, though, because she was past the last Eagles defender before the pass was made.

31 minutes into the game was the next scoring opportunity for Wilkes. Towlen was in position to score from 20 yards out, but the shot was no good as it deflected off of the crossbar. 

After a scoreless first half of play, Wilkes had yet another failed chance to score in the form of an additional Towlen shot on goal that was called back for offsides.

The momentum swung in the other direction as the Eastern Eagles had two opportunities to score with back-to-back corner kicks.  The second was nearly headed in, but Wilkes’ goalkeeper, Courtney Stanley, was there to make the save.  This was followed by an Eagles shot that went high over the crossbar which kept the score tied at zero. 

In the 72nd minute, another Wilkes shot on goal by Megan Lercara hit the crossbar and ended out of bounds.  This led to another opportunity for Towlen in the 87th minute of the game.  Midfielder, Delfina Bracchi fielded in a ball to set up Towlen for a score, but the shot flew wide right after Towlen’s spin move around a defender.  That was the last scoring opportunity for either team as regulation ended with a score of 0-0.

The first overtime was uneventful as both Wilkes and Eastern battled back and forth to get a leg up on their opponent, but neither team could put themselves into scoring position. 

Entering the second overtime period, Wilkes finally took the win after 102:29 of play. Ema Sabovic passed to a wide open Nicolette Towlen who had all day to line up her shot on goal.  The shot was placed in the bottom left of the goal.  After it rolled in, the Lady Colonels were sent into a dog pile in celebration of their win that would send them to the MAC Freedom championship game against Misericordia.

Wilkes 1, Eastern 0

Eastern`0`0`0`0 –`0

Wilkes`0`0`0`1 –`1

First half — No scoring. Second half — No scoring. First overtime — No scoring. Second overtime — 1. WIL Nicolette Towlen (Ema Sabovic) 102:29

Shots — EAS 4; WIL 18. Saves — EAS 2 (Adrianna Rowlands); WIL 3 (Courtney Stanley). Corners — EAS 4; WIL 5.