Seventh-seeded Arcadia University upset top-seeded Stevenson University on penalty kicks to capture the 2013 ECAC Division III South Women’s Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Mustangs were the defending ECAC champions and were playing in their third straight ECAC title game.

Senior keeper Jackie Law was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after going 2-0-1 in the three tournament games with a 0.31 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. She allowed just one goal and totaled 10 saves in 288 minutes, which was in addition to the two saves she recorded in the four rounds of penalty kicks against the Mustangs.

This marks the first-ever ECAC championship for Arcadia in any sport after joining the conference for the first time this academic year, and is the University’s first team title victory since the men’s soccer team won the 2006 Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title. This was the first women’s soccer tournament win since Arcadia captured the 2005 PAC Championship.

The Knights (13-4-6) and Mustangs (14-8-3) played to a scoreless draw through regulation and both overtime periods, sending the match to a shootout to decide who will be crowned champions. It was there third time in as many games that the two teams played to a scoreless tie dating back to last season.

Junior midfielder Nina Barbieri and sophomore midfielder Rachel Dolly scored in the first two rounds of penalty kicks for the Knights, and sophomore back/midfielder Ashley Vaitis scored in the fourth round to put the Knights ahead 3-1.

Senior back Shannon McGuire scored the lone goal for Stevenson in the third round of penalty kicks after freshman forward Alexis Siejack missed wide left in the first round and Law stopped senior midfielder Mackenzie Calhoun diving to her left. Law then dove to her right to stop sophomore back Emily Losquadro’s fourth-round attempt to seal the victory for the Knights.

There were several momentum changes during the 110 minutes of game action, and both squads had quality scoring opportunities that they were unable to cash in on. Stevenson outshot Arcadia 13-11 in the match and had a 4-2 advantage on corner kicks. Law finished the match with four saves, while sophomore keeper Alicia Greene tallied five stops in net for the Mustangs.

Arcadia needed to win three straight games on the road to capture its first ECAC title, opening the tournament with a 3-1 win at second-seeded McDaniel College in the quarterfinals before blanking sixth-seeded Swarthmore College in the semifinals to advance to the championship match.

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