West Texas A&M earned the South Central region title Friday, advancing past St. Edward's with a 4-1 penalty kick shootout after the squads played scoreless through 110 minutes. The Lady Buffs (15-2-4) will return to Triton Soccer Field Sunday at 12 p.m. to play the winner of UC San Diego and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The victor of Sunday's contest will enter the NCAA Division II National Championships Final Four, to be held at the University of Tampa's Pepin Stadium from Dec. 3-5.
SEU's offense dominated possession for much of Friday's match but as the contest moved to penalty kicks, the Hilltoppers failed to convert two of their first three attempts as WTAMU went four-for-four to move on to the quarterfinals.
In the 30th minute Friday, Hilltoppers' senior forward Stacey Copeland hit the crossbar with a header off a corner kick by Bethany Bennett. In the final minute of regulation, Copeland faced a similar fate as she lined a shot from about 16 yards out on the right side that caromed off the left post and out of danger.
The match moved to overtime but neither team could get on the scoreboard through the extra 10 minutes, forcing a penalty kick shootout.
With the Lady leading 3-1 in the shootout, WTAMU sophomore Becky Hewson stepped up and lined a shot toward the middle of the net. SEU netminder Claire Tilton guessed to the correct side but bounced to the outside a little too quickly as the ball slipped behind her and into the net.
The Hilltoppers' season draws to an end at 16-3-3.