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NCAA DIVISION 3 SOCCER TOURNAMENT

Golden goal lifts Brandeis women into semifinals

The Brandeis University women’s soccer team, led by veteran c oach Denise Dallamora (right), is making its first appearance in the NCAA semifinals.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff/File 2014/Boston Globe

Jessica Morana’s golden goal 1:43 into overtime – scored while lying on the turf during a scramble following a free kick – gave the 23rd ranked Brandeis University women’s soccer team a 4-3 upset win over previously undefeated and top-ranked William Smith College Sunday in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division 3 tournament at Gordon Field in Waltham.

“It’s just sinking in. I’m still in shock,” said Brandeis’s coach of 37 seasons, Denise Dallamora, after the Judges had secured the program’s first trip to the national semifinals.

They will face Washington University, also out of the University Athletic Association, Dec. 2 in Salem, Va.

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William Smith (21-1) led, 2-0, in the second half, fell behind after Brandeis roared back with three goals in a span of seven minutes and 46 seconds, and tied it up with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation.

Outshot, 7-2, in the first half, Brandeis had an increasingly brisk wind at its back the second half and into overtime and took advantage of the conditions – and their opportunities. The Judges (16-3-4) outshot the Herons, 8-4, in the second half and kept applying the pressure in OT.

Michaela Friedman set up the winning tally with a free kick from 35 feet out, resetting the ball twice because of the wind gusts. “The wind was so strong,” she said, “that I actually had to take something off it to keep it in play.”

William Smith goalkeeper Veronica Romines had a brief touch on the ball, but Brandeis’s Samantha Schwartz knocked it toward the right post where Morana, a senior captain from Shrewsbury, swept it feet-first over the line.

“We knew we had to just regroup and then come out on fire,” said Morana. “One thing we always stress is to follow our shots.”

The victory avenged last year’s 1-0 NCAA third-round overtime loss to William Smith in Geneva, N.Y.

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