Siloam Springs, AR- The #2 seeded Patriots advance to the championship match of the Siloam Springs Opening Round Bracket with a 3-1 victory over #3 seeded Benedictine College in penalty kicks. Laura Vogt made three excellent saves during penalty kicks to help lift Cumberlands past the Ravens. This is the third straight season UC has won their first match of the NAIA Opening Round.

From the first whistle, the Patriots controlled the possession and their offense came out firing. During the second minute of the match, Alanna Skinner fired a shot that looked to be on frame but went right over the top of the goal. UC kept on the offensive attack and recorded their second shot during the fourth minute of the match when Jayden Boelter fired a shot that went just left of the goal. Cumberlands continued to control the possession during the remainder of the first half, but was never able to find the back of the net. The Patriots out-shot Benedictine 5-2 during the first 45 minutes of play.

UC came out strong again during the second half recording their first shot again within the first two minutes of the half. Cumberlands remained on the attack. During the 51^st minute of the match, Boelter fired another shot towards the goal but the Benedictine goalie made a great save to keep the score tied at zero. In the 55^th minute of the match, the Ravens looked to counter a UC attack, but Vogt made a great save to keep the Ravens off the board. The Patriots would continue to control possession and play aggressive offense. They recorded three shots from the 64^th minute to the 69^th minute but could never find the goal to give them the lead late in the second half. Their best chance to score came during the 87^th minute of the match when Boelter was one on two with the goalie and a Ravens defender. She fired a great shot but the Benedictine goalie made a great save. The Ravens tried to counter the UC attack with seconds remaining in the match, but Vogt made another great save that would send the game to overtime.

Both offenses came out aggressive during the first overtime, just trying to find the golden goal to lift them to the finals. Skinner had a great opportunity to secure the win for the Patriots but her shot from about 25 yards out hit the top crossbar.

During the second overtime the Ravens looked to secure the golden goal, but Vogt once again made an excellent save to keep the Patriots in the match. Boelter recorded two great shots during the second overtime, but the Benedictine goalie made to great saves to send the game to penalty kicks.

UC elected to take the first penalty kick of the game. Rita Aguye Cots fired a great shot, but the Benedictine goalie made a diving stop to keep the Patriots from taking the early lead. The Ravens shooter fired the next penalty kick, but Vogt made her first diving stop to keep the penalty kicks tied at zero. Boelter took the next penalty kick for Cumberlands and gave them the 1-0 lead when she fired the shot past the Benedictine goalie. The next Ravens penalty kick was once again saved by Vogt. Daniela Aguirre Garcia gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead when she fired her kick past the diving Ravens goalie. Benedictine cut into the Patriots lead when they made their third penalty shot. Skinner increased the lead to 3-1 when she made her penalty kick. Vogt made another diving stop on the last penalty kick attempted by the Ravens to lift UC past Benedictine 3-1 in penalty kicks.

With the win, Cumberlands advances to the finals of the Siloam Springs Opening Round which is set to take place on Saturday at 1 PM ET. They will face the winner of the John Brown vs. Friends match that was taking place after UC's game. Live video of the match can be found here and live stats can be found here.

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