The Lancaster Bible College women's soccer team did something on Sunday no North Eastern Athletic Conference team has done in four years. They kept Penn St. Berks off the scoreboard for 90 minutes, heck they even kept them off another 10 minutes in the first overtime and all signs pointed to the Chargers holding them for a second overtime. The crowd was gearing up for penalty kicks, the teams were preparing for penalty kicks and all that needed to happen was for the time to tick off the clock.

Then the ball went up into the air, bounced, and was driven into the air by Penn St. Berks defender Brennan Moyer. A second later, it was going over an unsuspecting Kaitlyn Scheuing's head and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal. Stunned faces littered the field, one set celebrating, the other realizing their NEAC Final fate.

The teams played back and forth soccer for the first few minutes of the opening half, but Penn St. Berks quickly and methodically began putting more and more pressure on the Chargers. The Lancaster Bible back line, Maddie Dionne, Michaela Ragsdale, Kiersten Hatch and Barb Foster, were up to the task each and every time. When the Nittany Lions did get towards the goal, Scheuing was there and made sure everything stayed in front of her. 

The Nittany Lions outshot the Chargers, 7-1 in the opening half, but the teams went to the break scoreless. Out of halftime, Lancaster Bible finally began to turn the tide and controlled the ball for longer stretches of time. More importantly, as the Chargers possessed the ball, they took the Penn St. Berks forward and midfielders out of the game and were able to limit the highest scoring team in NCAA Division III. Lancaster Bible managed two corner kick opportunities in the second half, but nothing came of them. Junior Raegan Horst got free a few times in the second frame, but the Nittany Lions' defense was able to gobble her up much of the time. 

As regulation expired, both teams went to their benches with the realization that the next goal was going to be the winner and anything can happen in overtime. Lancaster Bible had the only shot of the first overtime as the Chargers controlled much of the play. Penn St. Berks matched the Chargers' effort from the first overtime and began to pressure Lancaster Bible once again. The Chargers got themselves out of trouble a few times and the game appeared to be headed to overtime as the clock ticked under a minute to play.

With the ball just outside of box in Lancaster Bible's end, the ball was played up into the air and bounced on the turf. As it came up off the turf, Moyer popped it into the air and it went up and over Scheuing who had taken a few steps off the goal line. Moyer's shot surprised everyone, including most of her teammates, who were just as surprised as the Lancaster Bible defenders when the ball went into the back of the net. 

The Chargers were outshot, 13-4, including 4-1 in shots on goal, though the game was much more a game of possession in the midfield then actual offense opportunities. 

"We knew going in that it would be a battle today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Leah Sipe-McDermott said. "The girls came out ready to fight and battled and battled for 109 minutes. I could not ask of any more of these girls and they played their hearts out."

And though the loss stings today, the future it quite bright for the Chargers who played seven freshmen throughout the game and have many underclassmen returning. The mood following the game was one of sadness and enjoying just how far the team had come throughout the year.

"I absolutely love coaching this team and today's game will only prepare us better for the future," Sipe-McDermott said. "I'm not overly fond of moral victories, but this was a huge step for the program and there isn't anything we would do differently today."

The chance for an NCAA Division III National Tournament bid is over, but the Chargers are not done yet. Lancaster Bible will turn its attention to the NCCAA Division I Midwest Region playoffs and will learn its opponent and the day of the game, later this week. 

Notes: Penn St. Berks has now won the last four NEAC titles...Lancaster Bible was the last NEAC team to defeat Penn St. Berks as the Chargers defeated the Nittany Lions, 2-0 in the 2012 NEAC Final...Scheuing made three saves for the Chargers...Horst had a team-high two shots for the Chargers...This was the Chargers' first time in the NEAC Final since winning it all in 2012...The Nittany Lions came into Sunday's game scoring more than five goals per game...Two of Lancaster Bible's six losses this season are to Penn St. Berks...The Chargers are 6-9 all-time against the Nittany Lions.