QUINCY, Ill. - Quincy native Cassidy Foley's (Quincy, IL / Quincy Notre Dame) late goal helped the Hawks advance to first NCAA Sweet 16 since 2013.
The Hawks defeated fellow GLVC school Bellarmine 2-1 Saturday (Nov. 11) afternoon at Legends Stadium.
The Knights had a prime opportunity to strike first in the 11th minute of action.
After an attempted clearance by the Hawks, Bellarmine put a shot on goal. A deflection allowed the ball to sneak by the keeper Megan Swanson (St. Charles, MO / St. Dominic). Gabby Orlando (St. Charles, MO / Francis Howell) had drifted behind Swanson and cleared the ball off the end line to preserve the 0-0 tie.
In the 17th minute, the Hawks set up for a corner kick looking to take the lead over the Knights. Natalie Quisenberry (St. Louis, MO / Lafayette) hit her cross perfectly as the ball ricocheted off the cross bar and into the top right corner of the goal. It was Quisenberry's first goal of the season.
The Hawks defense did not allow a shot for the remainder of the first half and QU took a 1-0 lead into the half.
QU kept the offensive intensity, tallying five shots through the first 15 minutes in the second half, but were unable to add to the lead.
In the 63rd minute, a pair of nice touches played the ball to Natalie Teo just outside of the Hawks 18-yard box. Teo dribbled the ball to about 17-yards out and buried her shot into the bottom left corner of the goal to tie the game 1-1.
The Hawks and the Knights showed why they sported two of the best defenses in the conference as neither could get a clean look at goal for the next 17 minutes of play.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game senior Maddy Kuhlenberg (St. Louis, MO / Incarnate Word) played a long cross into the box over the heads of the Knights defenders.
Cassidy Foley scored on the volley and put the Hawks ahead 2-1.
Foley nearly scored again three minutes later but a diving save by Taylor Smith kept the lead just one.
The Knights final shot in the 87th minute went wide and QU held on for a 2-1 win.
QU's 17 wins this season are second most in program history (18 in 2013). Megan Swanson is now tied for most wins in a single season in program history (Jodi Chapie 17 in 2013).
QU travels to the highest seed from the Central Region for the next round of the NCAA tournament. The Hawks will face the winner of Grand Valley State/ Ohio Dominican game which will be played Sunday (Nov. 12) at 1 p.m. ET.
