HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. --- Standing tall on defense all night and getting a pair of goals from junior Allyson Palmer, the No.18 Bellarmine University women's soccer team moved past the Rockhurst University Hawks 3-0 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bellarmine (16-2-3, 12-2-1 GLVC) now advances on to play the host No. 9 Northern Kentucky Norse on Sunday afternoon in Highland Heights, Ky.

After the Hawks shredded the Bellarmine defense in the squads' earlier matchup for a season high 15 shots, the Knights knew they needed to jump out early and that is exactly how it played out as sophomore Chelsea McCarty continued her late season surge, sliding a shot pass Rockhurst keeper Lucy Sullivan in the 23rd minute for the 1-0 lead. The hometown forward has now scored three goals the past three games for the Knights.

The margin would remain at one going into the break, even though Rockhurst owned a 7-2 advantage in shots. “Rockhurst came out aggressive and we did a great job of weathering the storm in the first half,” said coach Jonathan Velotta. “Defensively we were disciplined all night long against a great offensive team. Leah Loven and Brianna Simmons did a fantastic job for us.”

Known as one of the deepest teams in the conference, Bellarmine used fresh legs late in the contest to break the game wide open with ten minutes to go, getting two Palmer goals in a four minute stretch. The first came as Palmer fired a shot off the left post and into the net from 18 yards out, the result of a pair of precise passes from Alex Kowalski and Abby Janszen.

Palmer scored her second goal of the game, and fourth of the season, by winning a footrace against Sullivan to a long pass from Melanie Stippler in the 84th minute.

In goal, Amy Kunowski came up with four saves in a winning effort to secure her tenth shutout victory of the season, which ties a single season school record. Sullivan takes the loss for Rockhurst as she made one save on the night.

Now Bellarmine will get a rematch with instate rival NKU. The teams battled to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 26 at Owsley B. Frazier in a game that gave the Norse the Regular Season GLVC Championship.

Velotta likes his team's mentality going into the rematch. “The girls are just ready to get back out there and compete. They know it's win or go home, and they do not want this ride to end.”

Bellarmine and Northern Kentucky will match up at 1:00 p.m. at NKU's Soccer Stadium.

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