ORONO, Maine — Noelle Leon-Palmer’s goal off Maine’s fifth attempt in a penalty-kick shootout gave the No. 4 Black Bears a 2-1 victory over the No. 5 New Hampshire Wildcats in an America East women’s soccer tourney quarterfinal Thursday night at Mahaney Diamond.
Maine advanced to a 2 p.m. Sunday semifinal against the No. 1 Harford Hawks in Hartford.
UNH scored a first-half goal and Maine equalized in the second half, but neither could convert in two 10-minute overtime periods, sending the game into the penalty-kick shootout where Maine goalkeeper Claudia Dube-Trempe stopped two New Hampshire shots to help give the Black Bears the win.
UNH’s Brooke Murphy scored on its first kick, but Addie LaBonte equalized for the Bears. Dube-Trempe then stopped Kirsten O’Neil’s attempt and Vivien Bell converted Maine’s second attempt for a 2-1 edge.
Dube-Trempe then stopped Caroline Murray’s shot and Charlene Achille converted for the Bears. Nikki Sloan converted next for UNH and UNH goalie Mimi Borkan stopped Jenna Soucy’s shot.
Kellie McGoldrick tied it for UNH, but Leon-Palmer then sent a shot up and over Borkan for the winning margin.
UNH scored a first-half goal 16:17 into the game when Sloan headed the ball inside the goal’s right post from a free kick from Murphy. It was Sloan’s first goal of the season.
The Black Bears equalized 18 minutes into the second half when Ashley Robinson headed home the ball for her third goal of the season. Robinson converted from eight yards out following an assist from Kate Evans.
Maine is now 10-7-1 overall and 5-3-1 in AE while UNH finished at 6-10-3 and 4-5.