Williamsburg, Va.- Sam Scolarici collected the pass at the top of the box, raced in and fired a 12-yard shot that found the net 3:39 into double overtime as the Hofstra women's soccer team won the Colonial Athletic Association championship with a 2-1 win over UNC Wilmington on Sunday afternoon at William and Mary's Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.

When Scolarici's shot beat Seahawks keeper Caitlin Hunter, it initiated a massive on-field celebration as the Pride captured its third CAA title in program history and secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Hofstra improved to 11-8-2 with all three CAA championship games going beyond regulation. UNCW ended the season 12-7-3.

The selection show for the NCAA Tournament will be on Monday, where Hofstra will find out its first-round opponent and start time. The selection show will air on NCAA.com at 4:30 p.m.

Sophomore Lulu Echeverry (East Meadow, N.Y.) had one of her best games of the season, scoring Hofstra's only goal in regulation and assistingon Scolarici's game-winning strike to clinch Hofstra's first CAA title since 2007.

Hofstra junior goalkeeper Emily Morphitis (London, England) made five saves, including three in the second half, to earn CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Fifth-seeded Hofstra won all three tournament games away from home, upending fourth-seeded Northeastern on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals before moving past top-seeded William and Mary on penalty kicks in the semifinals on Friday. Morphitis made two saves each in both shootouts and allowed only a first-half goals against UNCW to put Hofstra in position to win.

Simon Riddiough guided Hofstra to its fifth-ever appearance in the CAA championship game and earned his second conference championship crown as the head coach.

All five games in the conference tournament went beyond regulation, with the final showcasing two evenly matched teams as Hofstra barely out-shot UNCW, 20-19, with both teams tallying six saves.

Echeverry and CAA-leading scorer Stephanie Rose both scored for their respective teams in the first half to mark the only offense before Scolarici's late heroics.

Coming out of the halftime break, Morphitis made a good kicking save on Kim Currie's inside-the-box kick in the 53rd minute. Almost three minutes later, Maddie McCormick almost gave UNCW the lead.

Morphitis came out to try and collect the loose ball. But McCormick got to it first and chipped it high, clanking a shot off the crossbar that went over the net, keeping the score tied at 1.

Hofstra nearly scored the go-ahead goal with 18 minutes left in the second half when  freshman Jeannine Molleda (Clifton, Va.) tried to dribble around two defenders but had her shot blocked. She collected her own rebound but her shot went just right of the post.

McCormick had another shot at 9:55, sending a head-on blast over the crossbar.  

Neither team had a shot in the first overtime, though Echeverry had a chance to win it in the second overtime, dribbling around two defenders before her shot went just wide right.  But just a few minutes later, she again found space down deep before crossing a pass to Scolarici to set up the game-winner.

For the second time in three tournament games, the Pride opened the scoring in the game's first 10 minutes when Echeverry slipped in a shot  6:20 into the contest. Freshman Leah Galton (Harrogate, England), who was named the CAA's Rookie of the Week on Thursday, picked up the assist.

Hofstra collected the ball at midfield with Scolarici making a back-heel pass to Galton, initiating a 3-on-2 rush. Galton raced down the field and dribbled deep into the box before sending a cross just in front of the goal line. Echeverry  pushed in the ball at the right post for her eighth goal of the season and first since Oct. 14 and the 1-0 lead.

The Pride nearly extended the lead later in the half when sophomore Caylin Dudley's (Gransonville, Md.) shot was saved and freshman Chloe Dale (Birmingham, United Kingdom) sent the rebound attempt just high, keeping the score knotted at 1 with 18:05 left in the first half.

Morphitis grabbed Jen Ludemann's header off a cross, corralling the ball in the 22nd minute to preserve the one-goal lead.

But UNCW tied it before halftime when the Seahawks drew a Hofstra foul just inside the box, setting up Rose's  penalty kick goal to the left side with 7:38 left in the opening half.  Rose's goal was her CAA-leading 14th goal of the season.

Hofstra registered six first-half shots compared to UNCW's nine.

The Pride won both games against UNCW this season, with the first victory coming the CAA opener on Sept. 20 in North Carolina.

CAA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Eva Badana, Drexel
Brooke Bendernagel, Hofstra
Melissa Chapman, Drexel
Leah Galton, Hofstra
Kiersten Harpe, William & Mary
Caitlin Hunter, UNCW
Leci Irvin, William & Mary
Jen Ludemann, UNCW
Maddie McCormick, UNCW
Emily Morphitis, Hofstra
Jill Mulholland, Hofstra

 Most Outstanding Performer: Emily Morphitis, Hofstra