AZUSA, Calif. -- For the first time in 6 seasons, Azusa Pacific has been eliminated from a qualifying tournament for the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship, as Point Loma Nazarene won a penalty-kick shootout after a 1-1 draw in Friday's Golden State Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament semifinals.

Point Loma Nazarene goalkeeper Tiffany Kracy saved 2 penalty kicks in 4 rounds, sending the fourth-seeded Sea Lions into next week's GSAC Tournament championship game against third-seeded Vanguard with a 3-1 win in the shootout. Vanguard knocked off second-seeded California Baptist in double-overtime, 2-1, Friday afternoon in Riverside. Kracy made 11 saves in 110 minutes of regulation plus overtime before the shootout.

Point Loma Nazarene went first in the shootout, and both sides converted in the first round. Lauren Hernandez converted low to the left before senior defender Katie Rorabaugh evened the shootout at 1-1 with a perfect strike to the upper right corner. Alex Fuller's attempt to start the second round missed wide right, but Kracy dove to her right to stop freshman forward Natalie Sun's attempt.

Tommie Graham converted to open the third round, and freshman defender Rachael Harding's strike went wide to the right to give the Sea Lions a 2-1 lead through 3 rounds. Erica Wessels put Point Loma Nazarene in position to win by finding the back of the net to the left, and Kracy clinched the shootout win by guessing correctly with a dive to her left to stop freshman Jacqueline Conforto's attempt in the fourth round.

"We practiced (PKs) all week, and that was the group that did the best for us," Cougar head coach Jason Surrell said. "Maybe the nerves got the better of some of the younger players. It's a tough way to lose, but if we get in (to the national tournament), I still like our chances. I'm sure we'll be fired up and ready to go, and hopefully we'll play a little more desperate than we've been the last couple of games."

Kracy's standout efforts helped level the playing field for Point Loma Nazarene, which was out-shot by a 19-6 margin and surrendered the go-ahead goal less than 5 minutes into the second half. No save was more important than the one she made in the 65th minute after the Sea Lions had tied the game at 1-1 less than 10 minutes earlier. Sun broke free into the right side of the box for a clear cross from the right touch line, and she found senior forward Marissa Ranberger's strike from 7 yards out was saved by Kracy, who kept the ball in front of the goal line as she went low for the save.

After Azusa Pacific out-shot Point Loma Nazarene, 8-1, in a scoreless first half, senior midfielder Lauren Lane cashed in on the Cougars' first shot of the second half. Lane collected a pass from Ranberger at the top of the box, firing from 17 yards out to the left post for her second goal of the season.

A Cougar foul in the 58th minute set up a Point Loma Nazarene free kick from 26 yards out on the left side, and Alex Fuller's cross to the far post was headed into the goal by Erica Wessels for the equalizer.

"We had a couple chances that we probably should have put away or done better with," Surrell said. "I didn't feel like they generated a ton of offense, we just fell asleep on a free kick and that was the difference."

From there, the defensive-minded Sea Lions tightened up again, holding Azusa Pacific without a shot over the final 23 minutes of regulation before the Cougars took 2 shots in each 10-minute overtime period. One of those was a bicycle kick from Sun from 8 yards out off a 94th-minute corner kick, 1 of 3 overtime saves for Kracy.

"You could tell late in the overtime, they weren't committing numbers forward," Surrell said. "They were probably playing for the penalty kicks, and sometimes how you beat a better team is by hoping for penalty kicks."

The official result of the contest is a draw, with Azusa Pacific's overall record dropping to 14-3-1 while Point Loma Nazarene is now 12-4-2.

Azusa Pacific won 4 straight NAIA Region II tournaments from 2004 through 2007 and claimed the 2008 GSAC Postseason Tournament championship, earning national tournament automatic bids each time. This season, the Cougars will likely earn the program's 12th NAIA Tournament trip with 1 of the 7 at-large bids available.

The 32-team field and Opening Round pairings for the 26th Annual NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship will be announced by the NAIA national office on Sunday, November 15. The 16 opening-round pairings will be played on Saturday, November 21, at NAIA campuses nationwide.

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