DENVER, Colo. – Top-seeded Denver and fourth-seeded South Dakota ended regulation of the opening semifinal of The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship in a 1-1 draw, but it was the Pioneers who advanced on penalty kicks, 4-2, in match played Thursday at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. The victory moved DU into its fifth consecutive title match.

Both teams played a scoreless opening 45 minutes with Denver holding a 7-1 advantage in shots, including 3-0 on target. The tournament hosts finally broke through nine minutes into the second half when the league's leading goal scorer, Sydney Sharp, scored in the 54^th-minute. Sharp received the ball from the all-first team duo of Natalie Beckman and Sami Feller, who combined down the left side of the field before setting up Sharp in the middle of the penalty box for the go-ahead goal.

The Pioneers had multiple chances to extend their lead, but could not find the back of the net down the stretch. Fortunately for the Coyotes, they could as Jordan Centineo  recorded the equalizer in the 81^st-minute of play. After an intial shot was deflected by a pair of Pioneers, the senior collected the loose ball and drilled it into the bottom right corner of the net. It was the first shot attempt on goal for the Coyotes.

After two scoreless overtime periods, a shootout would decide the outcome. With Denver up 2-1 early on, USD missed its second attempt and Pio midfielder Kaitlyn Glover took advantage by connecting on her attempt to make it 3-1. USD forward Joana Zanin got one back for the Coyotes to trim the deficit to 3-2.

Both DU and USD would miss their next shots, but Denver's Hannah Gallegos put things out of reach for the upset-minded Coyotes by delivering the game-sealing PK.

Denver will play No. 2 seed South Dakota State in Saturday's title match set for 2 p.m. MT at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium.

Turning point

• South Dakota had not put a shot on goal before Jessica Centineo put away a rebound off a deflected shot in the 81st minute to make the score 1-1.

Inside the box score

• Denver held a 22-6 edge in shots and 12 of those were on goal while the Coyotes recorded just two shots on goal.
• South Dakota goalkeeper Emma Harkleroad made 11 saves, which were the fifth most all-time in a Summit League Tournament match.

News & Notes

• This is Denver's fifth-consecutive appearance in The Summit League Championship title game and the Pioneers will look for back-to-back titles after defeating Omaha 3-0 in last season's championship game.
• Sydney Sharp scored her team-leading 15^th goal of the season and has a team and league-high 36 points on the season.

#SummitWSOC