After 110 minutes of intensely fought soccer featuring great performances by individuals on both teams and on both ends of the field, the Lady Bucs Big South championship dreams ended when UNC Asheville won 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout.

There were signs early on that the game could be a tightly contested affair, as the action was very back-and-forth in the early going. Promising CSU goal-scoring opportunities fell the way of Emma Mattsson (Helsingborg, Sweden), who forced a diving save from UNC Asheville goalkeeper Veronica Lazar in the 9th, and Sarah Catenacci (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), whose 17th minute effort gave Lazar trouble. The keeper was able to block the sophomore's shot but could not prevent it from rolling towards the goal, but unfortunately for the local product the ball would hit the outside of the near post.

On the other end, the consistently dangerous Joy Haynes had a good chance for the Bulldogs in the 10th minute, but CSU goalkeeper Jena Uvalle (Mt. Dora, Fla.) did well to come off her line and force the senior to fire over the crossbar.

The game would settle after this opening flurry, but goals would not be far away. The first dent in the scoreboard came in the 36th minute, as Asheville's McKenna Stockhausen smartly picked out Katy Beeler entering the CSU box. Beeler surged into the box and finished past Uvalle to give UNCA the lead.

The Bucs were not undone by this goal, but instead showed some well-honed resiliency in quickly answering the Bulldog goal with one of their own. The creator of the 39th minute tally was unquestionably Big South Freshman of the Year Michelle Dennis (Ann Arbor, Mich.). Dennis took on an array of Bulldog defenders and held each off with a very strong run down the near side of the field. With the last defender beaten, Dennis picked out fellow freshman Marky Boyce (Woodbridge, Va.) positioned in the heart of the box. Boyce followed Dennis' impressive effort with an impressive effort of her own, flicking the ball to an advantageous scoring position for herself, then finishing with an unstoppable shot past Lazar to tie the game at one.

The goal breathed a lot of life into the CSU attack, which would control the play for the rest of the half and the better part of the early second. Christine Bethke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) supplied a well-struck cross to Caitlin Wesnesky (Piscataway, N.J.) in the goal's immediate aftermath, but Wesneksy's effort would be denied by Lazar. The best opportunities, however, came in the 52nd, with Catenacci, who dazzled with some very impressive footwork in the second half, once again finding the post on a header off a strong cross by Jen Vroman (Piscataway, N.J.). The ball came loose and landed right at the feet of Dennis, but a recovering Lazar intervened to stop a goal.

The goalkeepers would be the story for much of the rest of the second half, with both consistently solid and always in the right position to make key saves. Uvalle's best efforts included a solid catch save on a Robyn Busha strike in the 57th and a strong clear to safety in the 82nd, with help from recovering defender Jessica Kim (Austin, Tex.), that prevented a dangerous Bulldog counter-attack from finding pay dirt. On the other end, Lazar did well to catch a dangerous Mattsson cross intended for Dennis in the 61st and to save an effort from Alyssa Clay (Littleton, Colo.), who made a strong run into the box in the 70th.

The Bucs continued to fire shots toward the UNCA net as part of their 14 shot second half onslaught, but many efforts from deep wound up wide of the Bulldog net. The closest chance fell the way of Mattsson, who nearly missed the near corner of the net with a strong shot in the 73rd. Perhaps tiring from all this action, and with several key Buccaneers needing rest due to fatigue and injury, the action would cool as the half came to an end and both teams headed for overtime, the Bucs' first venture into extra time this year.

Unfamiliarity with extra time might have been a slight problem for CSU early on, as UNC-A had a slight edge in the first OT. Stockhausen was particularly dangerous for the #7 seed in the period, first firing over the bar in the 95th and then forcing a Uvalle save in the 97th. On the other end, Dennis was on target again in the 93rd, but Lazar was in the right position once more to save her effort.

Though the goalies had been magnificent to this point, they saved their best efforts for the second overtime period. Uvalle was the first to shine, putting her body in the way of a hard shot from Haynes enough to block the ball up and over the net in the 101st minute. Then, in the 108th, the Bucs had one of their best goal-scoring opportunities on the night. The play began when Vroman found Mattsson with a well-struck ball that allowed the Swede to catch the ball and run into the box. After successfully fending off the last UNCA defender in her immediate path, CSU's season-long clutch scorer had just Lazar to beat for yet another critical goal. However, Lazar played Mattsson's effort perfectly, running off her line and diving enough to divert the Swede's shot away from the net to the far side of the field, quelling the chance for the Lady Bucs.

With regular action concluded after the two halves and two overtimes, the game moved to the pressure of a penalty kick shootout. The first four shooters would find the back of the net, with Caitlin Gunyan (Rockville Center, N.Y.) and Catenacci firing past Lazar, who guessed wrong on both efforts, and Asheville's Juliana Duncan and Shoshana Fried sneaking shots past a sprawling Uvalle. The shootout would turn, however, on misses from Boyce, who was denied to the near post by Lazar, and Wesnesky, who missed the far post wide. On Asheville's attempts, Emily Elstrom once again snuck a shot past Uvalle before leading Bulldog goalscorer Robyn Busha ended the game, and CSU's season, with the game and shootout winner.

The loss was a tough one for the Bucs, especially given their edge in the play over the 110 minutes of regular action, a fact even Asheville's coach Michelle Cornish was willing to own up to.

"It was a battle," she said. "I think CSU dominated.

It's unfortunate that it has to boil down to that. I believe they were the better team and played much better than we did."

CSU coach Eric Terrill was more willing to credit the Bulldogs for their performance.

"It's the tournament," said Terrill. "I thought Asheville played a great game. They showed a lot of heart and did what they had to do to get it to penalty kicks and finished us off."

However, even in the aftermath of such a tough loss, it was hard for Terrill to show too much disappointment. The team's vast improvement in 2007 and it's high hopes for 2008, attributable to the facts that the team will lose no players to graduation and will return key contributors such as Briana Murphy (Boone, N.C.) and Lindsey Trexler (Asheville, N.C.) to the lineup, are valid reasons to believe that CSU's greatest soccer days may yet be ahead.

"That's just the way soccer is," said Terrill. "I have no regrets about this season."

"We've got a bright future ahead of us."