After 110 minutes of scoreless action in regulation and a pair of overtimes, No. 3 seed High Point out-scored No. 1 Coastal Carolina, 5-3 in a penalty kick shootout to claim the program's second Big South Conference Women's Soccer Tournament Championship in the last five seasons.

The Panthers (12-7-2) were making their third championship game appearance while Coastal Carolina (15-6-1) reached the title game for the first time in school history.

High Point last took home the tournament title in 2003, when the event was played on the HPU campus, defeating UNC Asheville in penalty kicks, 3-2. HPU also reached the final game in 2004 before falling to Birmingham-Southern on penalty kicks (5-3) and ironically that tournament was played at Blackbaud Stadium, the site of this year's tournament.
 
It was the fifth League championship match to be decided by penalty kicks, including four since the 2003 season.

"This is just an indescribable feeling," said HPU third year head coach Michelle Rayner, who improves to 3-2 in Big South Tournament play. "Obviously, Coastal Carolina is an unbelievable team.  It was a privilege to be on the field with them.  We've been through a lot this season including eight season ending injuries and this team just kept fighting.  This group could have quit many times this season, but they never did. They just kept stepping up and moving forward. These girls deserve nothing less than a Big South Championship."

In the penalty shootout, High Point sophomore Laura Eldridge and Coastal Carolina's Ashleigh Gunning each found the top-right corner of the net to put their team on the board.  In the second round of penalty kicks, Panther sophomore Courtney Spotts put a second tally on the board, while senior teammate Hannah Nail made a dramatic save against Lady Chant, Corie Coles, which would ultimately prove to be the game-winning stop. Juniors Leslie Long and Kelly Farrell each scored for the Panthers to help maintain the lead and senior captain Alex Torriero beat Coastal goalkeeper Amy Haggard on the fifth attempt to secure the win.

From the beginning, the game was a tough defensive battle, as each team had several opportunities to post a goal, but neither team's defense would allow the score.  At the end of the opening half, High Point had seven shots while Coastal Carolina finished with six attempts. Each team's goalie posted two saves in the opening stanza.  

The Panthers and the Chanticleers each had several free kick opportunities during the first 45 minutes of regulation. At 19:51, Meagan Hellberg placed a free kick in prime positioning to score for CCU, but the shot by Blair Monroe missed just wide.  Off a free kick by High Point's Megan Fielden at 27:27, HPU had a couple of close strikes at the net, but the Lady Chant's were able to fight through the attack to prevent the score. 

At the start of the second half Long had a corner-kick opportunity, with several High Point players attempting to score, but the CCU netminder made a remarkable diving save to maintain the scoreless game.

In the last ten minutes of regulation, Nail matched Haggard's diving save to secure the 0-0 tie, when Gunning drilled a shot from 25-yards out towards the net.  Minutes later, Lady Chant, Heather Haupt nearly earned the win for her team off a beautiful pass by Gunning, but missed just wide.

Coastal Carolina had several solid scoring opportunities in the twenty minutes of overtime play tallying five shots to just one for High Points,  but were unable to connect, forcing the game to be decided by penalty games.
 
The Chanticleers held the final advantage in shots at 17-13.  Haggard had five saves for the Chanticleers, while Nail finished with three for the Panthers, excluding her game-winning save in the penalty-kick shoot-out. Nail posted back-to-back shutout wins for HPU after replacing an injured Marisa Abbott in the first half of their opening round game.

High Point freshman Sara Rager was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, after scoring all of the Panthers goals. She was joined on the All-Tournament squad by teammates Nail, Torriero and Caroline Carver (pictured above).

With the tournament title, the Panthers receive the Conference's automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday, Nov. 16, at campus sites.  Pairings will be announced Monday, Nov. 12, between 8:00-8:30 p.m. EST live on ESPNews. 

2007 Big South Women's Soccer All-Tournament Team
Sara Rager, High Point - Most Valuable Player
Caroline Carver, High Point
Hannah Nail , High Point
Alex Torriero, High Point
Ashleigh Gunning, Coastal Carolina
Meagan Hellberg, Coastal Carolina
Chelsea Terry, Coastal Carolina
Ashley Bader, Winthrop
Caly Cassady, Winthrop
Kate Barrow, UNC Asheville
Veronica Lazar, UNC Asheville
Brittany Bolick, Charleston Southern
Ally Erving, Liberty
McKenzie Vergara, Radford
Audrey Falconi, VMI