HIGHLAND | Before the start of sectional play, Munster coach Val Pflum told her team to abide by three words: determination, pride and resiliency.

She even bought her players dog tags adorned with those three words.

The Mustangs certainly bought into Pflum's philosophy in Wednesday's Munster Regional, fighting through both overtime periods with a 2-2 tie before finally winning 4-2 on penalty kicks. The regional title is Munster's first since 2004. The Mustangs (13-7-1) play Penn in the Crown Point Semistate semifinals on Saturday.

"Our players are wearing (the dog tags) with pride," Pflum said. "They know they've got to keep fighting, and it's all heart."

Mustangs goalkeeper Sarah Skertic alertly dove in front of goal attempts from Crown Point shooters Elizabeth Phillips and Abby Small to ensure the win in the penalty kick session.

"I just wanted to treat it like any other shootout -- you can't make yourself nervous," Skertic said. "When I got up after (the second save), I didn't even know what was going on. I felt bad about the two goals I let in during the second half, so to help my team win during penalty kicks was a good feeling."

Bulldogs All-District forward Sammy Vercellino ended a 20-minute scoring drought with her 20th goal of the season, tying the game at 2 with 15 minutes left in regulation.

The Bulldogs (15-5) were unable to find any kind of offensive rhythm in the first half, as the Mustangs were able to neutralize Vercellino and the rest of Crown Point's forwards.

"Crown Point is a great team," Pflum said. "We wanted it in the first half, they wanted it in the second half, and we both wanted it in overtime."

Munster's Kelly Schlotman executed a perfect reverse header off a free kick from Marissa Meneghetti to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the game.

Jessica Goodrich set the tempo of the game in the seventh minute, firing in a goal off a long pass from Eleni Agelopoulos to give Munster an early 1-0 lead.

For Skertic and the Mustangs, it was just a matter of getting hot at the right time and meshing well.

"We made it our goal midway through the season that we wanted to go far in the postseason," Skertic said. "This is just an amazing feeling for all of us."

GIRLS SOCCER

Munster Regional

Munster 2, Crown Point 2 (Munster wins 4-2 on penalty kicks)

The Mustangs will play Penn at the Crown Point Semistate on Saturday.