GUELPH, ON – Libby Brenneman hadn't allowed a goal on home field this season.
 
But finally giving up a goal late in regulation time on Wednesday didn't stop the third-year goalkeeper from coming back to save the game – and the season – for her Guelph Gryphons.
 
The Baden, ON native was perfect in penalty kicks as Guelph edged the Laurier Golden Hawks 2-1 in OUA women's soccer preliminary playoff action at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.


 


















"It's something I've loved since I was super young," Brenneman said of the pressure that comes with facing PKs at the end of a game. She recalled a similar end to a contest against Windsor in her rookie year with the Gryphs.
 
"It was kind of a flashback to that, so I was more excited than nervous."
 
Brenneman made three saves on Laurier's kicks, with a fourth shot missing the net high. Allison Clouse and Sarah Magalhaes scored on penalties for the home team, sandwiched between a miss by Jacquie Preza and a crossbar by Ann-Carolyn Lang.
 




















"Libby's been great for us all year. She just came through big-time," said Gryphs head coach Randy Ragan. "It seems like the more pressure she's under, the better she performs."
 
Penalty kicks were necessary after Guelph and Laurier traded late goals in regulation and two 15-minute extra periods solved nothing. The two teams had stymied each other until the 85^th minute when Victoria Hinchliffe gave the Gryphs a 1-0 lead, beating Ashley Almeida of the Hawks on a breakaway.
 
It was looking good for the home team, who had blanked their opponents in all nine of their regular season contests and just needed to shut the door in the final moments in order to advance. But Laurier's Ellie Reid broke that shutout streak in extra time on a scramble in close.
 
"A goal like that is terrible to have happen, but we fought back and held them off," said Brenneman, who had a league-leading 10 shutouts during the regular season. "Our coach just brought us all in and told us that if we wanted to make it further than we did last year, we're going to have to keep fighting."
 
"It was a real heartbreaker," Ragan said, "but I think they responded well."





















The coach felt that his team played tentative and slow to start off Wednesday's game, but he also gave credit to Laurier for another strong performance. Although the sixth-place Hawks finished 18 points behind third-place Guelph in the OUA West regular season standings, they were extremely tough opponents in head-to-head play this year, earning a 2-2 tie and dropping a 1-0 decision.
 
"Laurier's record is not a good reflection of what a quality team they are," Ragan said.
 
The Gryphs will travel on Sunday to face the second-place Western Mustangs in the next OUA West playoff round. Guelph was winless against Western during the regular season, losing 2-0 in September in London and playing to a 0-0 tie last week at home.
 
"They're a very athletic team and a very energetic team," Ragan said of the Mustangs. "They work hard and they're very competitive, so we've got to match that.
 
"We've got to learn from tonight. . . the negative is that we had to go into extra time, but the positive is that maybe we can build a lot of confidence after pulling through like that."