A full 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau, Mo., were not enough to decide the outcome of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament women’s soccer championship.

The Panthers (12-6-2) needed to take the game to penalty kicks before they were able to knock off the No. 1-seeded Ohtakians (14-5-1) 4-3 in the shootout to earn their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“This is a great win for our program,” Eastern head coach Steve Ballard said. “We are going to the Big Show.”

Junior forward Teri LaRoche stepped up to the penalty line with a 3-3 tie in the shootout and put the ball past SEMO goalkeeper Amanda Wrzoz for the game-winner.

LaRoche did not let the pressure get to her as she took the final shot. “I knew it had to be made,” LaRoche said. “I was glad I was able to do that. I had the opportunity to finish and I did it.”

Sophomore Audra Frericks, junior Beth Liesen and senior Cara LeMaster added the other shootout goals for the Panthers while sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Dechert stopped two shots.

“Lindsay Dechert played strong for us the entire tournament,”

Ballard said. “She was huge in the penalty kicks.”

The game was moved back an hour and a half to 3:30 p.m. after thunderstorms, but Eastern did not let the late start effect the start to their game.

LeMaster put Eastern on the board first the same way the Panthers ended it. She gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead off a penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the first half. Eastern would hold the 1-0 lead going into the half.

SEMO tied the game in the 67th minute on a goal from Erin Slattery that was assisted by Erika Todd. The Panthers would strike back with five minutes remaining on LeMaster’s second goal of the game on a pass from freshman Jillian Nowak to take a 2-1 lead.

“I missed some scoring opportunities on Friday and I wanted to make up for that,” LeMaster said.

The Panthers lead would only last ten seconds though as Todd tallied the equalizer to send the game into overtime tied at two.

Ballard was proud of the way his team overcame their early season struggles to give them their second straight tournament title.

“To go into SEMO’s house and come away with the conference championship speaks how strong their will is,” Ballard said. “Everybody that stepped on the field left it all out there.”

LaRoche, the tournament MVP, was also the hero in the semifinal match against Tennessee-Martin. She put in a shot off of freshman Lee Ann Langsfeld’s corner for her third goal of the season.

Eastern controlled the offensive numbers by outshooting the Skyhawks 24-9 and had 13 corner kicks compared to UTM’s five.

LeMaster, Dechert and Frericks joined LaRoche on the OVC All-Tournament Team as the Panthers had the most with four players being named.

The team will watch the announcement of their seeding for the NCAA tournament at 4 p.m Monday in the Panther Club Room at Lantz Arena. Anyone is welcome to join the team for the selection show.