MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's soccer team played a back-and-fourth match that led to a shootout in a semifinal match of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Friday afternoon in Mankato.

After the tie, the Mavericks move their overall record to 17-1-2 on the 2015 season while the Winona State University Warriors moved their record to 13-4-3 on the year.

The first half of action played at an even pace for both teams as neither MSU or WSU was able to produce a score at the end of the first 45 minutes.  The Warriors were held to one shot on goal for a total of six shot attempts in the first frame while the third-rated Mavericks saw an advantage in shots on goal with three, totaling eight shot attempts.  Minnesota State also held an advantage in corner-kick opportunities by a clip of 4-0 and were called for nine infractions compared to Winona State's three.  Maverick goalkeeper, senior Lauren Hoeppner (Lakeville, Minn.), was credited with one save in the first half while Warrior goalkeeper, Rachel Oleson, made three stops by the end of the first 45 minutes.  

The second half followed suit as both teams came out of regulation with one goal apiece.  At the 52:16 mark of the period, Winona State found themselves with a 1-0 advantage when the Warrior's leading goal-scorer, Abby Bohanski, notched her 11th goal on the year.  The tally was set up when Meg Riebau slotted the ball from outside the box for Bohanski to finish off the play.  Minnesota State countered at the 77:58 mark when freshman Morgan Cottew (Minneapolis, Minn,) scrambled for a loose ball in the WSU box and tapped it to senior Korey Kronforst (Cary, Ill.) to drill home on the left side of the goal-frame. At the end of regulation Minnesota State had accumulated 19 shot attempts including six on net while the Warriors posted a total of 10 shots with three landing on goal.  Hoeppner had come away from the second 45-minute period with two saves for a total of three while Oleson recorded two stops for a combined five at the end of regulation.

The match played through both allotted over-time periods with neither team finding that back of the net, forcing a shootout to see which team would advance to conference championship on Sunday.

In the shootout, Winona State found the back of the net three times while Oleson stopped the first three Maverick attempts to win the shootout.  The game ended in a tie at 1-1 with Winona State winning the shootout 3-0 to advance to the NSIC Finals on Sunday.  The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at The Pitch in Mankato.

Hoeppner ended the game tallying five saves while Oleson stopped seven of the shots she was challenged with.  Minnesota State ousted the Warriors in shots in a 24-14 margin and in shots on goal by a clip of 8-6.

The NISC Regular-Season Champion Mavericks will find out when, where, and who they play next week via the NCAA Division II Tournament soccer selection show.  The webcast can be viewed on ncaa.com, and will air Monday, November 9 at 5:30 p.m.