WHEATON, IL – A crucial penalty-kick save by goalkeeper Sarah Pasternak lifted the No.19 St. Thomas women’s soccer team past No. 6 Wheaton College Friday afternoon and into the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament at Joe Bean Stadium.

The Tommies (18-2-3) drew the Thunder 2-2 after double overtime and advanced by winning 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout. Earlier, Wheaton College sent the game into overtime by converting a penalty kick with 3:34 left in regulation.

“It feels incredible. This is so well deserved, they played so hard today, especially in the beginning of the game,” head coach Sheila McGill said.

Pasternak made six saves in the first 110 minutes of the game. Her biggest save though, came in the penalty kick shootout.

“I was super determined in my head,” Pasternak said. “I gathered a ton of focus and then just reacted to the ball.”

The Tommies’ 2018 season ended against University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse in a penalty kick shootout in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This time around, the Tommies came prepared.

“We think of them like free throws,” McGill said. “We practice a lot and with the repetition we get more consistent and that showed today.”

The Tommies opened up the game with surges of energy, earning two corner kicks and seeing one shot go off the crossbar in the first 13 minutes. However, the Thunder opened up the scoring first.

Wheaton College (18-2-2) capitalized after St. Thomas failed to clear a loose ball in its own box in the 16th minute.

“For us, I think, our mentality was like, ‘Aw, come on, that can’t be it,’ ” McGill said. “For (Wheaton), it was the determination of the super, super hard work they put in.”

The Tommies quickly countered the Thunder’s opening goal when striker Tessa Trettel was found in the middle of the pitch. Trettel took a few touches and shot from long-distance, finding the back of the net from 35 yards away.

The two teams went into the break in a deadlock, tied 1-1.

“We knew that we could hang with any team, so when they score you know we just have to pick our heads back up and keep fighting,” Tommie midfielder Liz Luotto said. “We really just focused in on our defense and tried to get compact, and we went from there.”

The Tommies scored what they thought would be the game-winner with 22 minutes to go in the second half after midfielder Alexa Oldenkamp crossed the ball into the box, finding the head of striker Kaley Roberts.

Roberts leaped into the air, swinging the side of her temple at the ball. A Thunder defender collided with their goalkeeper, Lauren Ketchum, giving Roberts a clear opportunity.

“We talked about getting into the box and getting any sort of deflection and Kaley did just that; it was an absolutely huge momentum builder for us,” McGill said.

The Tommies attempted to ride out the final twenty minutes of the game, playing possession and passing-based tactics, but with 3:34 left in the game, Wheaton earned a penalty kick.

Wheaton’s Carney Blake converted from the spot, and the late equalizer sent the game into overtime. The two sides then played two ten-minute periods of sudden-death soccer, but neither team could find the back of the net.

“We grinded it out in overtime, and you could really see how hard everyone worked to try and score–both teams,” Pasternak said.

In the ensuing penalty shootout, the Tommies converted all four of their kicks from the spot, while Wheaton hit the post on their second. Pasternak saved Wheaton’s fourth attempt, giving the Tommies the win.

“They’re a great team, they came in sixth in the nation and you could tell – they were really good offensively,” Luotto said. “We hung with them, and we got our opportunities.”

The Tommies will play No.15 Carnegie Mellon University at 5 p.m. Saturday after the Tartans defeated No.17 Ohio Northern College 3-0 in Friday’s late game at Joe Bean Stadium.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.