BROOKINGS, S.D. – Kaitlin Justice's goal in the 108th minute put an end to the season for Western Illinois as it dropped a 1-0 double-overtime match to South Dakota State in The Summit League Tournament semifinals, Friday, Nov. 6.

The Fighting Leathernecks (8-8-2, 5-3-1 Summit League) held the Jackrabbits (11-6-2, 7-2-0 Summit League) scoreless despite a flurry of shots throughout the match.

Western Illinois goalkeeper Laura Atkinson made eight saves in her first postseason game and held the Jackrabbits scoreless despite facing 29 shots and nine shots on goal.

"I thought Laura was outstanding tonight," Western Illinois assistant coach Jason Cherry said. "She made some awesome saves and held a really good team scoreless for over 100 minutes. Anytime you can do that its incredible and for her to perform that well as a freshman was great to see."

Cherry took over coaching duties during the match as head coach Tony Guinn watched from the stands while serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card in a 2-1 win over Oakland the regular season finale.

"Jason did a great job coaching," Guinn said. "He knows these players really well and they responded really well to him being on the sidelines. Jason deserves a lot of credit for helping us have the kind season that we did."

"Obviously this isn't the way we wanted to end the season, but I'm very proud of our girls. They never gave up and fought hard all season long. We have a lot to be proud of as a team.

In a game that saw little offense, the Jackrabbits outshot the Leathernecks by a 29 to nine margin, including a nine to three advantage in shots on goal. Western Illinois committed 16 fouls to South Dakota State's 15 and the Jackrabbits finished with eight corners to Western's three.

Ali Smyth led the Leathernecks with two shots and Kelly Diershow, Amanda Wright and Jennifer Green each tallied a shot on goal. Western's best chance came late in the second overtime when a loose ball bounced into the box in Jackrabbit territory, but Nora Potempa's shot went wide left.

"The one thing that we saw throughout the season was a lot of heart from our girls," Cherry said. "This team never backed down even when we hit a rough patch in the middle of the season. Out seniors and our captains really helped our young players to mature and we owe a lot to them."

The 2009 season marked the second time in which the Leathernecks have advanced to The Summit League Tournament under head coach Tony Guinn. Western Illinois had four players named to all-league teams and finished with eight or more wins for the fifth straight season.

"We learned a lot about ourselves this season," Guinn said. "We learned that we have a team who never gives up. They grew a lot this year and were extremely supportive of each other. This team has a lot to be proud of, I wish it had ended better for them but sometimes the lessons you learn off the field are more important than what you learn on it."