LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Taylor Smith had already established a new Bellarmine University women's soccer program record for shutouts when she made her most important defensive stand in Sunday's Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal against Southern Indiana.

The senior goalkeeper dived to the Owsley B. Frazier Stadium turf to thwart Carlie Scales' attempt and clinch a 4-3 win in a penalty kick shootout as the fourth-seeded Knights advanced to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament. The teams went to PKs after playing to a scoreless draw in regulation and two overtimes.

"Well, we live to fight another day," Bellarmine Coach Chris Tinius said.

Indeed, Bellarmine survived fifth-seeded Southern Indiana to meet top-seeded Quincy at noon (ET) Friday at Michael Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI. Quincy defeated eighth-seeded Illinois Springfield 3-0.

"We don't do anything the easy way," Tinius said, "but we've got great kids and we're lucky enough to get at least another week together. You always want to be able to still be together as the calendar flips to November, and we'll get to do that."

That Bellarmine (7-3-6) and Southern Indiana (8-5-5) required penalty kicks to decide advancement in the GLVC Tournament was practically a foregone conclusion. Their regular-season match ended in a scoreless stalemate, and they've now combined for a whopping 11 ties this year.

In the shootout, both teams had one make after three attempts — freshman defender Alex Harber was good on Bellarmine's second chance while Madelyne Juenger converted USI's first. Junior midfielder Audrey Van Der Elst and sophomore forward Kenzi Gooley followed by sinking their attempts for the Knights, but Courtney Spicer and Loryn Willis matched them for the Screaming Eagles.

Junior midfielder Madison Stephens was up next for Bellarmine and drilled her opportunity to give the Knights a 4-3 edge. Scales then stepped up for Southern Indiana. She attempted to line a shot inside the left post, but Smith read her perfectly, sprawling out and knocking down the shot.

Smith popped up and raced toward her incoming teammates, who mobbed the senior captain in a joyous celebration.

"I loved the look in everyone's eye as we gathered before taking the penalties," Tinius said. "I think we had about 15 kids wanting to take one and, of course, Taylor came up huge too."

Smith set a new single-season program record by recording her 11th shutout of the year. Smith, fellow senior captain Kelsey Lober, a center back, and the rest of the defense combined to extend their astonishing shutout streak to six. The Knights will enter the GLVC Tournament semifinals fresh off an October in which they allowed a single goal over nine matches.

"Our struggles to score are evident enough, but our commitment to being organized as we search for goals has been unbelievable," Tinius said. "We gave ourselves a chance and found a way."

As far as that organization, Harber made a defensive save early in the second overtime in which she stopped a shot from the left wing that would have landed inside the far post. It was a heart-stopping moment for Bellarmine, but the Knights emerged unscathed because the defensive formation expertly shifted on the play when Smith exited the goal.

That sequence may have been the closest that either team came to scoring in regulation or the extra frames. Southern Indiana finished with a 14-8 advantage in shots, including 6-3 on goal. Smith grabbed five saves and her counterpart, Emily Hopkins, had three.

"I didn't think we played as well today as the last few times out," Tinius said. "It was probably a little due to nerves with young kids in a postseason environment for the first time, and a lot to do with the way Southern Indiana played. They had a great season and played well today, but we were lucky enough to advance."

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