SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Not done just yet! The No. 5 Converse University women's soccer team (9-6-3, 6-3-3 Conference Carolinas) defeated the No. 8 North Greenville Trailblazers (2-10-5, 2-7-3 Conference Carolinas) by a final score of 3-2 in double overtime to extend the team's first appearance in the Conference Carolinas Championship since 2016.

Thursday's victory marks the first time the Valkyries have won a Conference Carolinas tournament game since the also-fifth-seeded 2015 Valkyries knocked off No. 4 King 4-3 in double overtime in the quarterfinals.

The victory also marks the first win in goal of the season for sophomore Allie Nepomuceno. It is the sixth win of her career.

The Trailblazers started the scoring early as they netted a goal just over eight minutes into the match. It appeared like the Valkyries would head into the halftime break down one goal, but with just five seconds left in the opening half, senior
Kiersten Schrawyer sent the ball to the back of the net from right in front of the Trailblazers' goalkeeper after a frantic scuffle at the goal line. The teams entered halftime once again even 1-1.

The teams were scoreless for almost 30 minutes into the second half when a North Greenville forward booted the ball from 25 yards out just out of the reach of Nepomuceno, sneaking into the corner and putting North Greenville up 2-1.
After two failed attempts to even the game over the next 13 minutes including a free kick that was saved by the Trailblazers' keeper, junior Jasmine Hernandez was fouled in the box giving the Valkyries a golden chance to draw the game even inside of three minutes to play. Hernandez converted the PK by drilling the ball to the left side of the goal as North Greenville's goalkeeper, with a look of defeat, went to the right, drawing the game even with just over two minutes to play.

North Greenville managed a corner kick following the equalizer, but neither team took another shot in regulation and, for the first time since 2021, the Valkyries headed to overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime period, the Valkyries finally sealed the game as senior Ellie Gore fed a pass to wide-open sophomore Hannah Liebig who delivered the game-winning strike from just inside the top of the box, giving Converse the 3-2 double-overtime victory.

With the fourth-seeded Belmont Abbey Crusaders also winning tonight, the fifth-seeded Valkyries will head on the road for their quarterfinal match. That quarterfinal matchup will take place on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 P.M. at Alumni Field on the campus of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina.

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