BROOKLINE, Mass. - Sophomore midfielder Erin Pardini converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 80th minute to give third-seeded UNC Wilmington a 1-0 victory over fourth-seeded James Madison in the 2009 CAA Women's Soccer Championship game Sunday at Parsons Field.

The Seahawks captured their first CAA Championship as they improved to 13-7-1 overall with the victory and extended their winning streak to five games. The win also tied the program's single-season record for victories, established during the 2006 campaign.

More importantly, the victory guarantees UNCW its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament as it earned the league's automatic bid into the 64-team field by winning the championship. The Seahawks will learn their opening-round opponent Monday night as the selection show for the 2009 NCAA Tournament will take place at 8 p.m. It will be carried live on ESPNews.

"This is a great feeling," said UNCW Head Coach Paul Cairney. "The girls played a great team game today and they deserved to win. Give JMU credit, they put us under tremendous pressure in the first half and we did well to defend and keep them off the scoreboard. We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to generate some offense pressure that led to the game-winning penalty kick."

Pardini's game-winning penalty kick was set up after UNCW freshman Stephanie Rose was taken down in the box at the 79:45 mark, resulting in a penalty kick. Pardini, who was attempting the first penalty kick of her career, sent a laser into the right side of the net for her third goal of the season.

It was the second consecutive game-winning goal for Pardini, who scored from 20 yards out to give the Seahawks a 2-1 overtime triumph against Hofstra in Friday's CAA semifinals. She was selected as the championship's Most Outstanding Player for her efforts.

UNCW freshman keeper Caitlin Hunter made five saves as she recorded her third shutout of the season. Junior Diane Wszalek made three stops between the pipes for the Dukes, all in the second half.

JMU had an 8-1 shot advantage in the opening half, but neither team was able to get on the board. The Dukes' best chance came in the 19th minute when junior Teresa Rynier's corner kick found Amalya Clayton in the middle of the box. The freshman fired a 10-yard shot through traffic but Hunter came up with a diving save. The Seahawks' best first-half opportunity happened in the 27th minute when junior Megan Novak launched a shot from 35 yards out that flew just over the crossbar.

The Seahawks out-shot the Dukes 8-5 in the second half and all four of UNCW's shots on goal came in the final 27 minutes of the match. Wszalek was able to deflect a hard 20-yard shot from sophomore Meagan Simeone over the crossbar in the 64th minute. JMU had a free kick from just outside the box with 13 minutes left, but senior Teri Maykoski's header of a Rynier kick was stopped by Hunter.

Pardini and Hunter were named to the all-tournament team along with UNCW teammates senior Brittany Croce and freshman Lindsay Henry. Earning all-tournament honors from JMU were Teresa Rynier, Cate Tisinger and Teri Maykoski. Rounding out the squad were Salma Tarik and Tiffany Yovino from Hofstra and Liza Rebello and Sandra Magnusdottir of Northeastern.