COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's soccer team is RMAC Championship bound as they make it past Westminster College in a thrilling semifinal match at a final score of 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Mountain Lion Stadium.

Defense was the name of the game in today's semifinal match as UCCS (19-0-0, 13-0-0 RMAC) was shutout in the first half for only the second time this season, while the Mountain Lions limited Westminster (11-4-4, 7-3-3 RMAC) to a total four shots and two shots on goal. UCCS outshot the Griffins 15-4 in the contest with Shanade Hopcroft tallying a team high five shots and four shots on goal, as freshman Kaitlin Hinkle came through big for the Mountain Lions with the game-winning goal.

The first half showed a scoreless tie as both teams kept each other out of frame with two All-RMAC goalkeepers putting their skills on display. Westminster's keeper Hillary Weixler recorded three saves in the opening 45minutes including making a save on a nearly perfectly placed shot by Tanner Sanders in the first half that would have squeaked into the top of the net, but Weixler was able to put a hand on it and force it out of play. UCCS Keeper Mollee Swift bagged two saves with the UCCS backline holding the Griffins to just three shots in the half.

In the second half, the Mountain Lions found their opportunity to break the scoreless tie and delivered as Hinkle put UCCS on the board in the 56^th minute. The game-winning goal began off a UCCS corner kick where Hopcroft gathered the corner and got a shot off on frame as a Westminster defender positioned herself right in front of goal to redirect the shot back into the box. Hinkle then possessed the redirected shot and slipped a shot of her own inside the near post for the 1-0 Mountain Lion lead.

From there the UCCS defense took over and continued their dominant play as Jade Kinsey, Alexandria Samuels, Aleesa Muir, and Caitlin Esterle tirelessly kept the Griffins' offense off tilt as they each recorded a full 90 minutes and helped only allow a single Westminster shot in the second half, and preserve the team's 11^th shutout of the year. Freshman Mitsy Ramirez also added depth to the backline by contributing 61 minutes to the stellar defensive play.

The number one ranked Mountain Lions now move on to the RMAC Championship match as they host number two seed and No. 16 ranked Colorado School of Mines. The championship match will be held inside Mountain Lion Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.

The first 100 UCCS Students will receive FREE admission into Saturday's match with proof of a UCCS I.D.