By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Melbourne, Fla.---Jessica Grindle (Northwood/Northwood, Ohio) scored with 13 minutes left to tie the game, but the No. 13 Express fell 6-5 in penalty kicks to No. 4 Darton State College in the opening match of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) D-I National Tournament today.

A scoreless game at halftime, Darton State got on board first with a goal from Brianna Lemerise at the 49:10 mark.

Later, Grindle had a one-on-one with Darton's goalkeeper, but was stopped in an attempt to loft it over her head. Then, with 13:10 left, Grindle didn't miss as she took a pass from Kendyl Christian (Clay/Oregon, Ohio) and beat the keeper with a sliding goal.

After regulation ended, the game went into the penalty kick phase without an overtime. Darton State started first, while each team made their first give goals in the penalty kick phase. Janay Campbell scored the sixth PK goal for Darton State, and Taylor Avers (Woodmore/Gibsonburg, Ohio) was stopped in an attempt to score on the far left side.

Christian, Grindle, Jill Burkholder (Bryan/Bryan, Ohio), Haley Kreger (Bedford/Bedford Township, Mich.) and Elizabeth Theaker (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) had each scored to keep the Express alive prior to the sixth set of penalty kicks.

Grindle's goal was her 22nd of the season, which puts her in sole possession of second place for most goals in a single season in program history. She passed Kendra Eitniear's 21 goal, 2011 season today. Christian's assist was her fifth of the season.

Erika Brinkman (Kalida/Cloverdale, Ohio) made a couple tremendous saves down the stretch to keep the Express in it.

Darton State's Lyana Perez, who is one of the nation's leading scorers with 38 goals, was held to just one, late shot on goal by the Express defense.

The Express (17-3) had their 15-match win streak snapped today with the loss, while Darton State (21-1) improved their winning streak to 13. Furthermore, the Express will take on No. 5 Butler Community College tomorrow at 4 p.m. in an effort to stay alive in pool play. Butler has won 14 straight matches and are 21-2 overall.

Should the Express win tomorrow, they will wait and see the result of the Darton vs Butler match on Wednesday.