CINCINNATI, Ohio. - Transylvania Women's Soccer earned a trip to the HCAC Women's Soccer Tournament Championship with a 2-1 win over 2 seed Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday night. The Pioneers scored two goals in the first half and fought off an MSJ comeback in the second half to earn their first HCAC Championship berth since 2013.

After losing to MSJ earlier in the season, Transy got their redemption and behind a free kick goal by Isabella White with just 7 minutes to play in the half and a Mackenzie Buckler goal just before the half ended, Transy put themselves in the drivers seat with a 2-0 lead at the half.

"Since our conference loss to MSJ, we have been looking forward to the opportunity to play them again, and the game did not disappoint," Co-Head Coach Ashley Reinecke said. "Tonight I thought we were phenomenal in the first half, and we did enough there to get two goals that ultimately won us the game. The second half we let up a bit, but we showed so much heart defending our goal like our lives depended on it." Transy survived some scary moments in the final 10 minutes.

Mount St. Joseph earned a penalty kick goal after McKenzie Schneeman was fouled inside the box, cutting the Pioneer lead with over 21 minutes to play. It was just the second goal Transy has given up in their last six games. The Pioneers fought off four MSJ corner kicks and Carrie Stevens made three saves in the final 20 minutes to secure Transy's HCAC Championship berth.

"I am so profoundly proud of this team.  One of our goals this season was to win the conference championship, so advancing to the final gets us one step closer to achieving that." Reinecke said. The Pioneers will meet Hanover College on the road for a chance at the NCAA Tournament. A win would earn Transy its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2013.

Transy needed a whole team effort in the win. Fifteen different Pioneers saw the field tonight, with four playing all 90 minutes. Five Pioneers earned shots on goal. Carrie Stevens finished the night with 8 saves.

Reinecke gave praise to her team's effort. "It was a great team win, with a few special performances and moments. Meron Roach was everywhere and was impactful defensively and in the attack, earning us the free kick that Isabella drove home.  Our goalkeeper Carrie Stevens came up huge, having to defend nine corners and countless crosses in the second half. And back to Isabella White, 11 goals and 10 assists this season is massive…you cannot replace that." White leads the team in goals (11) and assist (10) and points (32).

Transys HCAC Championship clash with Hanover is set for Saturday, November 4th at 1 PM.