LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's soccer team will compete for the first time in the semifinals of the ASUN Championship when the Knights face Kennesaw State at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday at host FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida.

Bellarmine (4-6-8) is the four-seed from the West, while Kennesaw State (8-7-2) is the three-seed from the East.

LAST TIME OUT
On Friday night in the quarterfinals, Bellarmine tied East one-seed and host FGCU 1-1, but the Knights advanced after winning a penalty kick shootout 4-3.

Bellarmine had fallen 2-0 to FGCU at the same location during the regular season. In the opening round of the conference tournament, senior midfielder Lauren Mackey scored the tying goal in the 89th minute to force overtime.

"I thought we had a phenomenal physical effort last night," Knights Coach Chris Tinius said. "FGCU came out on the front foot and we had to absorb a lot. I thought it took until about halftime before we really convinced ourselves we could get a result, and then we just kept fighting. They have a lot of firepower. Our plan was to try and keep their forwards, and especially (ASUN Player of the Year Louise) Lillback, in front of us and running toward the sidelines to get the ball as much as possible. We weren't perfect in that, but we did it as much as we could. Then we finally stayed with something all the way through a sequence in our attacking box to get the late goal."

In the PK session, senior goalkeeper Elyssa Francis thwarted the first and fifth attempts by FGCU, the latter clinching the shootout. Senior defender Elise Markley, senior midfielder Sarah Buse, sophomore forward Sophie Bish and Mackey buried every attempt through four rounds.

"Elyssa is a great keeper. She's done so many big things for us over the years, and she's as competitive as they come," Tinius said. "I think the confidence from the second half of the game carried over for our shooters. I felt like every shot was either very well placed or completely hammered. Our young ladies were clutch in that moment."

ABOUT KENNESAW STATE
Kennesaw State had something of a shootout of its own in the quarterfinals, although of a much different kind than Bellarmine.

The Owls and Central Arkansas, the two-seed from the West, combined for seven goals, with KSU ultimately pulling out a 4-3 victory in overtime behind a hat trick from Macie Rainwater and the golden goal from Tianna Rivera.

Rainwater leads Kennesaw State in goals with six. She was named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team along with defender Aila Swinton. Midfielder Ebony Clarke has collected five goals and was a first-team ASUN All-Conference selection. Forward/midfielder Kendall Higgs and defender Erin Miller were named to the second team.

In the spring, Bellarmine met Kennesaw State three times, including in the ASUN Championship quarterfinals, and fell all three occasions by one goal.

"Kennesaw is one of the two (ASUN teams) we didn't face during the regular-season rotation," Tinius said. "They have some different faces, but we obviously saw them a lot during the spring season. They have a lot of athleticism and depth in the attack and will want to run at you. Like I said, we are coming off of a phenomenal physical effort, and now we have the shortest turnaround of the year. We've got to try and get recovered and regrouped."

NOT BACKING DOWN
Bellarmine eliminated the East's top seed. While the Knights were the four-seed from the West, they felt like they were a few moments away from the opportunity to share a division title in the regular season.

There's no reason the Knights shouldn't be a confident bunch heading into the semis.

"You would think and hope that is the case," Tinius said. "We talked about it all week and again last night: you can't hide from your identity. You have to know it and embrace it. Nothing is going to come easy for this group. Even last night Elyssa had to save the last one twice (after the official rule she moved early on the first attempt)! We have to grind and do some specific things, but we also know that when we do, we can get it done. We get one more chance tomorrow, and that's all you can ask for right now."

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).