Some monster defense and key penalty kicks helped the Cyclones earn a needed victory over Prairie State College in round one of the NJCAA Region 4 playoffs.

Although the Cyclones had previously defeated the Pioneers during the regular season, neither team was going down without a fight. In the first half alone, the Pioneers had plenty of near misses to score, but keeper Ximena Delgado came up big with some huge saves to keep the score 0-0 at halftime.

A slight delay with an injured player on the Pioneers extended the halftime, but each team jumped back in the second half. Dominica Villasenor also helped the Cyclone defense stop an aggressive Prairie State that had 17 shots on goal compared to 12 for the Cyclones. Moraine Valley had a few scoring chances, but the Pioneers' goalkeeper also was a wall. Delgado continued with another big save near the end of the game to keep her team alive. She collected eight saves.

After two overtimes, the game was forced into penalty kicks, where Moraine Valley won 4-2. Heather Canny, Camila Barragan, Villasenor and Delgado each scored while Delgado blocked two shots by the Pioneers.

The Cyclones continue their run in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 2, noon, at College of Lake County.