LAKEWOOD, NJ- The #4-seed Georgian Court University soccer squad, in a contest that will go down in history as a Category 5 classic, defeated #5 Nyack in a penalty kick shootout Sunday afternoon at Investors Savings Bank Field, securing the Lions' seventh consecutive quarterfinals round victory in the CACC Championship Tournament.

GCU (10-7-2) now earns a rematch vs. #1-seed Wilmington University as the two clubs will face off on Friday in the CACC semifinals, hosted by Post University in Waterbury, CT (Time TBD). The Wildcats (11-6-2) provided the Lions with their worst loss of the season last Tuesday, a 6-0 drubbing in Wilmington, DE. 

#2 Caldwell College (14-4) will take on #3 Philadelphia University (12-7) in the other semifinal match-up.

In a game that was changed from Monday to Sunday because of the threat of Hurricane Sandy, Georgian Court looked determined to stay ahead of the storm as the Lions jumped out to an immediate 1-0 led just 1:07 in as freshman Tori Capestro popped in a shot from about six yards, courtesy of a Becky Witmer direct kick and Nicole Petrosino feed.

The Warriors (8-8-2) responded in the 13th minute (12:24) when Sabrina Caires (Sr.-Vallejo, CA) netted an Ashlee Hayes (Sr.-Phoenix, AZ) pass from about 20 yards away for the tie. The visitors grabbed a 2-1 lead on a Stacey Cervantes (Sr.-Whittier, CA) penalty kick at 20:26.

Cyan Jean-Baptiste (Fr.-East York, Ontario) provided the Warriors' third straight unanswered tally when she drilled a Cervantes thru ball from about 12 yards out as Nyack carried a 3-1 advantage into intermission.

The Lions closed the score to 3-2 in the 51st minute (50:19) on #Farrell Pomponio#'s penalty kick tally, her fifth goal of ths season.  GCU completed the thrilling comeback 15 minutes later (65:15) when #Tara Troisi# launched a ball from 40 yards out that bounded over Nyack goalkeeper Melissa Richards' (Fr.-Nanuet, NY) head and rolled into the net to tie the score at 3-3.  

After two scoreless overtime periods, a semifinals berth would have to be decided in a penalty kick shootout, one in which the Lions would prevail, 4-2. Casey O'Connor, who made a diving game-saving save late in the second half, made two critical denials in the shootout. In a case of of superb irony Denisha Thomas, the CACC's most feared defender, booted home GCU's victory-clinching PK, solidifying the fairy tale finish for Georgian Court.

Nyack outshot the home team, 9-8, in the game. O'Connor collected four first-half saves in 110:00. Richards tallied one save in 90 minutes of play. Madeline Barbarino (So.-Staten Island, NY) did not face a shot in her 20 minutes of action in net for the Warriors.