BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The No. 1 seeded University of Denver women's soccer team fell to No. 2 seeded Middle Tennessee in a shootout for the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.

After 110 minutes of play, the No. 15 Pioneers (19-2-1, 11-0-0 SBC) earned a scoreless tie, but the Blue Raiders (13-8-2, 9-2 SBC) won the tournament with a 3-2 edge in penalty kicks during the shootout.

"I wasn't disappointed with how we played at all," head coach Jeff Hooker said.  "We had lots of chances to put the game away in the second half.  It would have been nice not to go to penalty kicks because anything can happen.  Middle Tennessee was better at penalty kicks than we were."  

Junior midfielder Bria Beardsley (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and sophomore forward Kaitlin Bast (Centennial, Colo.) each scored in DU's first two attempts against Middle Tennessee goalkeeper Rebecca Cushing.  Freshman midfielder Nicholette DiGiacomo (Golden, Colo.) sent her shot wide right, however, and shots from senior forward Lauren Cavarra (Littleton, Colo.) and senior defender Alexis Hanks (Dallas, Texas) were saved by Cushing, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. 

The Blue Raiders scored on their first two shots, just out of the reach of a diving Lara Campbell (Anchorage, Alaska). MTSU's third shot was sent ringing off of the right post, but Paige Goeglein buried the game-winner on the Blue Raiders' fourth shot.

Campbell recorded five saves in the 110 minutes of regular time and two overtime periods for her ninth shutout of the season, equaling her total last year as a freshman. 

Denver outshot Middle Tennessee 26-11 and had a 9-7 advantage in corner kicks. 

The Pioneers created plenty of opportunities to score with shots on goal from Bast, sophomore forward Kalie Vaughn (Fort Collins, Colo.), senior defender Jessie Rogers (Fort Collins, Colo.) and freshman midfielder Jessy Battelli (Golden, Colo.), who scored the game-winning goal against Florida International in the semifinals on Thursday. With 81 seconds remaining in regulation, freshman forward Kristen Hamilton (Littleton, Colo.) beat a MTSU defender and Cushing, but her shot went just wide.

"We had a great season with nice, solid victories," Hooker continued.  "It hurts right now, but the girls shouldn't hang their heads at all because we have had a wonderful season.  It's been a lot of fun, and now all we can do is sit and wait for the selection show and if we're in it, then we'll go and kick some tail there."

The Pioneers now must hope for an at-large bid in order to make their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament. The selection show will air live on ESPNU on Monday, Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m. MT.

Notes: Denver sophomores Kalie Vaughn and Lara Campbell joined freshman Nicholette DiGiacomo and Kristen Hamilton on the 2010 Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team...With the shootout win, Middle Tennessee snapped the Pioneers' streak of Sun Belt Conference Tournament titles at four...The Blue Raiders are just the third team to win the SBC Tournament crown since 2001, joining Denver (seven titles) and North Texas (two titles)...DU is 24-3-2 (.862) all-time in the SBC Tournament...The Pioneers won their only previous shootout in the SBC Tournament, beating Florida International 4-1 on penalty kicks after four overtime periods in the 2001 Semifinals. Denver went on to win the 2001 SBC Tournament and became the first Sun Belt school to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament...The Pioneers held Sun Belt Conference teams to just four goals in 14 games, including the SBC Tournament.

2010 SBC All-Tournament Team

Mayara Bordin, FIU

Mallory Outerbridge, WKU

Lara Campbell, Denver

Nicholette DiGiacomo, Denver

Kristen Hamilton, Denver

Kalie Vaughn, Denver

Rebecca Cushing, Middle Tennessee

Fran Howells, Middle Tennessee

Whitney Jorgenson, Middle Tennessee

Vanessa Mueggler, Middle Tennessee

Regina Thomas, Middle Tennessee

Tournament Most Outstanding Player

Rebecca Cushing, Middle Tennessee