COLBY, Kan. – With 110 minutes of championship soccer resulting in a 2-2 draw, penalty kicks ultimately decided the NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer Plains District Title match with number four seed Cowley winning 4-2 in penalties to clam an automatic berth into the NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer National Tournament on Saturday, November 9th.

Capping off a run to the district title match that included handing top seed and NJCAA Division 1 women’s soccer number seven ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College their only loss of the season, the Tigers advance to their second-straight NJCAA National Tournament after advancing to the NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer National Semifinals last year before falling to eventual National Champion Iowa Western by a score of 1-0.

Defying the odds throughout the district tournament, Cowley was in must-win mode to keep their season alive with the potential for an at-large berth non-existent given their spot in the final NJCAA Division 1 women’s soccer rankings with Tigers finding a bit of an unexpected foe in the title game after seeing an upset also occur on the other side of the bracket with three seed Hutchinson defeating Butler 2-1 in the semifinal round to advance. Opening the scoring with Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year Hina Suzuki netting her 19th goal of the year in the 17th minute, the lead was somewhat short-lived for Cowley as the Blue Dragons tied things back up just nine minutes later on a Kaitlin Edwards goal. The scoring continued just four minutes after the game-tying goal with Evellyn Borges finding the back of the net on a free kick after providing the assist on the goal by Suzuki with the Tigers taking a 2-1 lead into the intermission break.

Drawing a penalty kick with just over 21 minutes left in regulation, a save was made by Marin Peoples but bounced back into play to allow Haley Rogers of Hutchinson to knot the game at 2-2 with the rest of the second half playing out with neither team finding a go-ahead goal. Defenses tightened up in overtime as both teams were playing extra time for the first time this season with neither team wanting to allow a mistake lead to a season-ending goal as the game remained tied 2-2 to end as a draw with penalty kicks determining the district champion.

In the penalty kick shootout, both teams converted on each of their first two kicks before seeing Suzuki step up for Cowley and bury her attempt to make Cowley a perfect three-for-three to keep the pressure on the Blue Dragons. A save from Peoples on the third Hutchinson attempt gave the Tigers a lead in the shootout with two rounds remaining before seeing their fourth attempt sail high over the crossbar to keep HCC alive in the shootout. Peoples once again stepped up in the biggest moment however with a miraculous kick save to keep the shootout at 3-2 with Himari Sato converting the fifth and final attempt for Cowley to send the Tigers to the National Tournament.

The 2024 NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer National Tournament is scheduled to take place November 17-23 at Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas with the official tournament seeding set to be revealed on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight district tournament winners who received automatic bids into the tournament along with four teams who will receive at large berths will be seeded and broken into four pools with each team playing two games in pool play over the first three days of action. The winner of the four pools will then advance to the National Semifinals with the National Championship match scheduled for Saturday, November 23rd.