ALBANY, N.Y. - The Thomas Jefferson University women's soccer team (12-5-2) prevailed in penalty kicks by a 4-2 count after playing to a scoreless draw against fourth-seeded Saint Anselm in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
 
The fifth-seeded Rams move on to the second round and will face the host team and number one seed Saint Rose on Sunday, November 21 at 2 p.m.
 
Jefferson converted four of its five shots in the penalty shootout and Liv Riddel came up big with a pair of stops in goal to help the Rams advance.
 
GAMEPLAY
The Rams quickly generated an opportunity just 33 seconds in but Laural Erick's shot was stopped by a defender prior to crossing the goal line after she eluded the charging goalkeeper. Jefferson posted three more shots during the period and conceded just one but the game remained scoreless at halftime.
 
The two squads were evenly matched again in the second half, with each team recording two shots over the first 30 minutes. The Rams started to apply more pressure on the Hawks late in the period. Jefferson totaled five shots but could not score the go-ahead goal. A last-second shot by Saint Anselm was saved by Riddel and the two sides went to overtime.
 
The Hawks had a 4-1 advantage in shots across the two overtime periods and had another dangerous opportunity in the box in which they could not get off a shot. The Rams were able to persevere and the game was forced into penalty kicks.
 
Jefferson shot first in the shootout and did get off to a good start, missing the first kick high. However, Riddel came up with a stop on the first Hawks opportunity to keep it even. Devin Sullivan converted her kick to put the Rams ahead by one then Riddel came through again with another save on the second Saint Anselm shooter. Grace Kenville, Jackie Martino, and Laural Erick all followed with goals to send Jefferson to the second round.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Shots: Jefferson, 12-8
Shots on Goal: Jefferson, 8-5
Saves: Saint Anselm, 8-5
Corner Kicks: Jefferson, 6-5
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Liv Riddel: 5 saves
Laural Erick: 4 shots, 3 on goal
Devin Sullivan: 2 shots, 2 on goal
 
NOTES
- Jefferson advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history (2015).
- The last time the Rams had a game decided in a penalty shootout was in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, when they advanced, coincidentally, over Sunday's opponent Saint Rose.
- It was the Rams' ninth shutout of the season.