By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's soccer team kept its season going Wednesday night by prevailing in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament game on penalty kicks.
Junior Kacey Parker (Attleboro, Mass.) broke a 4-4 tie in the shootout by converting the final shot of the night to allow the Bears to get past Fitchburg State University in the quarterfinal round at Mazzaferro Field.
BSU and sixth-seeded Fitchburg State played to a scoreless draw through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
The teams had played to a 0-0 tie on Oct. 25 during the regular season.
The shot by Parker came right after BSU senior goalkeeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I.) knocked the Falcons' fifth and final penalty kick over the bar, preventing the Falcons from taking a lead.
Levesque broke a pair of school records in the game, one for career shutouts and the other for minutes played by a goalkeeper in a career.
The third-seeded Bears, who are the defending champions, advance to the semifinal round and will play at second-seeded Westfield State on Friday at 7 p.m.
Fitchburg State and BSU (5-7-5) each made their first four penalty kicks before Levesque stopped the Falcons' fifth bid and Parker converted the winner.
It marks the first time the Bears won on penalty kicks since Nov. 4, 2016 in the semifinal round of the MASCAC tourney at Westfield State.
That last time BSU was involved in a MASCAC tourney shootout was on Nov. 3, 2017, a semifinal-round loss at Westfield State.
The Bears were playing without their top two scorers as senior Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass.) is out with an injury and senior Jenna Sweeney (Wilmington, Mass.) has an illness.
The Falcons went first in the shootout and sophomore Jamilly Chaves (Worcester, Mass.) scored, and that was matched by BSU senior Ariana Snelgrove (East Bridgewater, Mass.).
Fitchburg State went up, 2-1, when senior Adrianna Westcott (Sayreville, N.Y.) scored, but senior Abigail Shea (Somerset, Mass.) tied it for the Bears.
It was 3-3 after Falcons' sophomore Sierra Martinson (Monson, Mass.) and BSU junior Caroline McCormack (East Bridgewater, Mass.) both scored.
Freshman Molly Jenkins (Sutton, Mass.) for Fitchburg State and freshman Brenda Murphy (Brockton, Mass.) for BSU made it 4-4.
Fitchburg State junior Stella Liebler (Cheshire, Conn.) then put a shot on goal that Levesque was able to knock over the crossbar.
Parker then scored into the left side of the goal to finish the game.
Levesque recorded her 25th career shutout, breaking the BSU mark held by Lauren DeSousa, who played from 2015-17.
With 110 minutes of action, Levesque raised her career total to 5,883:40, breaking the record of 5882:00 held by Kristen Young (1997-2000).
Levesque also has the school record for games by a goalkeeper with 66.
BSU had a 20-6 edge in shots and an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal and 10-1 in corner kicks.
The Falcons (3-12-4) did not have a shot on net in the first 80 minutes of the game.
Westcott put one on net in the 81st minute, and then three more came less than a minute later.
Off a scramble in front, Westcott had two bids but junior Natalie Mattos (Fairhaven, Mass.) was able to knock them away. A third try by Martinson in front was stopped by Levesque.
Fitchburg State freshman goalkeeper Mia Herron (Mendon, Mass.) had eight saves.
This marks the fifth straight year that the Bears have opened the conference tourney against the Falcons.
BSU's semifinal-round opponent on Friday, Westfield State, is 7-5-6 and went 6-0-2 in the MASCAC.
The teams played to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 27.
The BSU-Westfield winner plays Sunday for the conference title against Worcester State or Framingham State.