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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Omaha, Neb.. -- Making their first-ever Postseason appearance, the No. 21-ranked Missouri Southern Lions played the No. 10-ranked Washburn Lady Blues to a 1-1 double-overtime tie, but lost a penalty kick shootout to the Lady Blues Friday (Nov. 3) and end their season with an 11-4-5 overall record. The match is officially scored a tie, but the Lions fail to advance after losing the shootout on penalty kicks, 4-2. The Lady Blues (15-1-5) will now face the winner of the second first-round match between Central Missouri and No. 1-ranked and tournament host, Nebraska-Omaha in the Central regional championship Sunday at noon. The Lions fell behind in the first half as the Lady Blues out-shot Southern 11-2. WU's goal came on a score from Lauren Schwindt off a Megan Horvath assist in the 40th minute of the match. The Lady Blues led 1-0 at halftime. Southern came out a different squad in the second stanza as Amy Davis (Fenton, Mo.) found the net just 2:45 into the second half to tie the match 1-1. MSSU out-shot the Lady Blues 6-4 in the second half, but was out-shot 21-9 overall. Opportunities were hard to come by for both teams, with the Lady Blues holding a slim 4-3 shots-on-goal edge. Lions goalkeeper Kaney Tyler (Topeka, Kan.) made three saves and turned back WU's first penalty kick attempt in the shootout by Jessica Mainz. Jenna Hatlestad stopped two shots for the Lady Blues. The Lions' two successful penalty kicks in the shootout were by Erin Gfeller (Overland Park, Kan.) and Stephanie Heines (San Antonio, Texas). Erin Whelan (Belleville, Ill.) had a team-high three shots in the match for Southern, while Jessica Buhman and Gfeller each had two shot-attempts. Mainz and Schwindt led the Lady Blues with six shots each. In addition to making its initial NCAA Tournament appearance, the Lions tied a school-record for victories this season and ran off a school-best 11 match unbeaten-streak that ran from Sept. 17-Oct. 29. Southern was 8-0-3 over that span.
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