The No. 8 nationally-ranked York University Lions women's soccer team was eliminated from the playoffs with a 1-1 (4-2 PK) loss to the No. 6 Laurier Golden Hawks in their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-final match at University Stadium on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26).
 
After the two teams played to a draw through 120 minutes of action, goalkeeper Maggie Carmichael of Orono, Ont., proved to be a difference maker, making two saves in the penalty shootout to lift her team to the victory.
 
Although the Hawks came away with the victory, it was the Lions who had the better start in the contest. Through the opening 45 minutes, York had six shot attempts and were rewarded with the game's first goal in the 31st minute. Rookie forward Christina Morelli of Markham, Ont., finished off a chance in front of Carmichael to give the Lions a 1-0 lead at the half.
 
Laurier responded with a much better second half and tied the game up just two minutes into the second 45. Off a wonderfully designed corner play, the ball was played back to captain Kelsey Tikka of Thunder Bay, Ont., who fired it into the box. First year forward Nicole Lyon of Kitchener, Ont., got her boot on the ball and deflected it past York keeper Courtney Davis of Cambridge, Ont., to tie the game at one.
 
Just minutes later, it looked like the Hawks would grab the lead as they caught Davis off her line but Emily Brown's (Waterloo, Ont.) shot was cleared by Lions defender Shannon Wood of Brampton, Ont.
 
With the game tied through 90 minutes, Laurier entered familiar territory as they headed to extra time in their third straight OUA playoff game. The Lions earned the first good scoring chance of the extra frame, getting two shots inside Laurier's 18-yard box in the 107^th minute, including one off the foot of York's top scorer Nour Ghoneim of Aurora, Ont., but on each chance, the Hawks got a body in front of the ball.
 
The Golden Hawks nearly won the game in the final minute of extra time when a long shot went off the crossbar, and the ensuing shot off the rebound rolled just wide of the net.
 
With neither team able to break the deadlock, the Hawks and Lions headed to a penalty shootout and it was Carmichael coming up big early. After Tikka gave Laurier a 1-0 advantage, Carmichael denied Wood to put her team in a comfortable position.
 
The two teams would trade goals until York's fourth shooter. Needing to score to stay alive, Aisha Lewis of Mississauga, Ont., was denied by Carmichael, sending the Hawks through the OUA semifinals, where they will face the No. 1 Ottawa Gee-Gees in Hamilton, Ont., next weekend.
 
With files from Laurier Golden Hawks sport information