Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the second time in as many meetings, penalty kicks were needed to settle an NCAA Tournament match between the West Virginia University women's soccer team and Rutgers. Just like in 2013, the No. 7-ranked Mountaineers advanced, edging the No. 22 Scarlet Knights 4-3 in a penalty-kick shootout after settling for a 0-0 (2OT) draw tonight at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
WVU moves on to the NCAA Tournament Third Round for the third straight season and will face No. 10 Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Stadium. Tickets are available now at WVUGAME.com.
 
Despite WVU outshooting RU 19-1, 110 minutes of play could not produce a winner tonight. Forced into a PK shootout for the second time in three matches, the Mountaineers earned the upper hand tonight, with sophomore Rylee Foster stepping up to make two critical stops and freshman Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel playing cold off the bench and connecting on the team's fifth chance.
 
"We all knew Casey (Murphy) was capable of doing what she did tonight and that PKs would be knocking on the door," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "Rylee (Foster) was definitely focused and fierce all week long in net. She did everything she could do to put herself in a position to win the game like she did tonight."
 
The contest officially goes down as a draw. The Mountaineers (16-3-3, 7-1-1) and Scarlet Knights (13-2-6, 6-2-3 Big Ten) also played to a 0-0 (2OT) draw in their last meeting, a first-round contest in the 2013 NCAA Tournament on Nov. 16, in Morgantown. That night, WVU moved past RU on a 3-0 edge in PKs.
 
The Mountaineers move to 20-16-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 5-6-1 in second-round matches. WVU improves to 4-3-1 against ranked teams this season.
 
With WVU's postseason life hanging in the balance, senior midfielder Carla Portillo connected on the team's first PK, while Foster stopped Taylor Alymer's attempt at the left post. A WVU miss in the second round was countered by a make from Amirah Ali.
 
The team's exchanged makes in the third round from WVU's Bianca St. Georges and RU's goalkeeper, Casey Murphy. The fourth round saw makes from Mountaineer Easther Mayi Kith and RU's Christy Monroy.
 
Knotted at 3-3, Ferrer-vanGinkel made WVU's fifth attempt. Foster punched the Mountaineers' third-round ticket with a push at the right post on Brianna Starr's attempt.
 
"Rylee will tell you that we knew Rylee is that type of goalkeeper," Izzo-Brown said. "She showed everybody exactly what she could do, and I'm so proud of her and everything she's done thus far."
 
The Mountaineers forced Murphy into six saves tonight, while Foster made a stop in the 82nd minute on RU's lone shot to preserve the 0-0 draw.
 
Tonight's clean sheet is the Mountaineers' second straight and 13th of the season. WVU has earned a shutout in nine of its last 13 NCAA Tournament matches.
 
WVU also finished with an 11-0 edge in corner kicks, and RU became the seventh team this season to fail to earn a chance against the Mountaineers.
 
Foster's lone save of the night was a big one. Ali snuck behind the Mountaineer backline and took an on-frame shot that went high. The Cambridge, Ontario, native jumped back on her heels and caught the ball just before it could fly into the back of the netting.
 
The crossbar stole the win from the Mountaineers in the 97th minute. With the ball wide, junior forward Sh'Nia Gordon sent a cross into the box. Junior midfielder Grace Cutler swiftly headed it toward the net, but her attempt pinged off the crossbar. Senior midfielder Alli Magaletta pounced on the rebound, but her shot went wide.
 
With seconds remaining in the second overtime, a thru ball from Magaletta to senior forward Heather Kaleiohi almost put the contest to rest, but the San Diego native's sliding shot went just high of the crossbar.
 
The wood also was cruel to Mountaineer senior forward Michaela Abam. With the ball in the 62nd minute, she sent an end-line shot toward the goal that bounced off the left post and back into play.
 
WVU's best first-half chance came off the foot of Abam, as she sent a low, hard shot toward the net in the 39th minute. Murphy batted the ball down at the line, but it bounced up and looked to roll into the net before she recovered and covered the ball for the final stop.
 
Six minutes before the chance, the Mountaineers' fourth corner kick resulted in two looks. The first, a shot from junior defender Vanessa Flores from 12 out, was blocked. Gordon jumped on the deflection and immediately placed a shot on-frame, but it pinged off the left post before Murphy grabbed it to stop play.
 
Abam paced the field with four shots, two on-goal.
 
The Mountaineers move to 11-4-3 all-time against the Scarlet Knights.