WAUKESHA, Wis. - Top-seeded Carroll University's 2024 women's soccer season came to an abrupt end Saturday night against second-seeded North Central (IL) in the CCIW Tournament Championship game. The two teams were tied at one after two overtime periods, leading to a shootout, which was won by North Central 7-6 after eight rounds.

The Pioneers controlled the game for most of the night, breaking a scoreless tie in the 20th minute on Kenzie Blau's fourth goal of the season, thanks to a corner kick assist from Grace Tumilty. That's where the score would stay until the final minute of regulation when North Central was able to create a breakaway opportunity, resulting in Jordan Lange's eighth goal of the season with just six seconds remaining in the second half.

That forced two scoreless overtime periods, which sent the game to a shootout to decide which team advances to the NCAA Division-III Tournament. The best-of-five shootout was extended after each team made four attempts. They would each make their next two as well, sending the shootout to an eighth round where North Central's Reese Anderson found the back of the net to give NCC the CCIW Tournament Championship and advance them to the NCAA Tournament.

Carroll finishes one of the most successful seasons in recent history with an 11-4-3 overall record, including a perfect 8-0-0 mark in the CCIW, earning the CCIW regular season championship for the first time in program history. The Pioneers, which were ranked as high as seventh in the region this season, didn't suffer a loss in their last 11 contests, which included a winning streak of 10 games.