SAN DIEGO—The hits keep coming for Dominican in a season like no other for the Penguin program.

Today the No. 4 seed added another milestone to their memories by advancing on penalty kicks over No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific. The two squads were tied at the end of regulation, 0-0, sending the Pacific West Conference semifinals into overtime and then ultimately to penalty kicks to decide the match.

Penguin goalkeeper Michelle Salas Viniegra blocked two Azusa Pacific shots and a third sailed high to seal the verdict. That came after Fatima Waldo Garcia, Janae Schwan and Tahlia Smith all converted their shots for Dominican, sending the team into a wild celebration near the Penguin bench.

Dominican advances to Saturday’s title match (noon) against the winner of Point Loma and Hawaii Hilo. The Penguins, who were picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll, move to Saturday with a 9-1-9 record. They have not lost since Oct. 2, and that was against Azusa Pacific.

“This team is special,” said Dominican head coach Kelly Coffey. “It’s been a magical year already. I feel like all of our games over the past month were playoff-type games. We were built for this moment.”

The Penguins accomplished what they did without getting a shot on goal all day against a stout Cougar defense. Salas Viniegra had four saves in the first half, including a leaping effort to push a shot over the top of the bar just minutes into the match.

APU outshot Dominican 10-4 in the first half and had eight corner kicks.

The Cougars had another shot bang off the goal in a scoreless second half, with just 20 seconds remaining, sending the action into a pair of 10-minute overtime periods, were neither team scored.

Per NCAA soccer rules, overtimes are not played during the regular season, nor are penalty kicks to decide the match.

Dominican notched the first PK via Garcia, while Salas Viniegra guessed right on the first APU attempt by diving left and blocking the shot. Schwan scored next for DUC, and Salas Viniegra blocked the next Cougar shot, this time diving to her left. Smith made it 3-0 before the final Cougar shot sailed high and right.

“You have to really want it in those situations,” Salas Viniegra said after the match. “I read body language a bit but mostly you just really have to want it.”

Azusa Pacific, the PacWest champ and No. 4 ranked team in the NCAA West Region, will most certainly still advance into the postseason but will have to wait by the phone to see where they land. They leave San Diego with a 11-4-3 overall record.

“APU is such a good team,” Coffey added. “They are our only loss. They will keep playing on. They were statistically better than us today, but we found a way to get it done.”