WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Ahmad Ihmeidan just stood and watched the throng of 1,262 fans rush the field after Shawn Carr made his second-straight save in a shootout Saturday night at the MSU Soccer Field.

He watched the crowd swarm the hero knowing he still had business to do.

Ihmeidan waited as officials cleared the field, then he blasted a shot past Sonoma State's Brook Johnson to punch the Mustangs' ticket to the NCAA Division II Final Four starting Nov. 30 at the City of Orange (Ala.) Sportsplex.

"I knew it wasn't over," Ihmeidan said. "I knew I was going to get the winning goal. My teammates had confidence in me. I was the lucky one to finish it."

The Mustangs will battle Franklin Pierce (N.H.), who claimed a 2-1 win over Dowling (N.Y.) earlier Saturday, in the national semifinals.

Midwestern State (18-3-1) was on life support when Carr guessed correctly and right on what would have been the decisive kick by Sonoma State's Mark Wiedeman.

"They went right three times and I knew they would go back that way," Carr said.

Carr is no stranger to shootouts as he helped Mercer County Community College move on in the NJCAA tournament over Yavapai (Ariz.) last season.

He came in cold after MSU starter and two-time all-region performer Jeremy Turner made five saves to keep the Mustangs in the match.

"We worked it out in practice," Turner said. "He's got quicker feet and I had no problem with the decision. I knew he would come through for us."

With Sonoma State up 4-3 going into the final penalty kick, it was Carr that stepped up his game allowing Brian Martinez and Ihmeidan to make the decisive swings to seal the NCAA II national tournament berth.

"I'm not too fond of penalty kicks because anything can happen," MSU coach Doug Elder admitted. "It was just a flip of the coin and Carr comes in and wins the game for the team."

Sonoma State was looking to advance for the second-straight round on penalty kicks as the Seawolves claimed a 4-2 win to advance out of the Far West Region over California State-Dominguez Hills last week.

Midwestern State has tasted the same fate on penalty kicks in the second round of the tournament last season when it fell to eventual national runner up Fort Lewis (Colo.) in Durango.

The Mustangs got off to a blazing start when Kyle Kmiec intercepted a pass in Midwestern's offensive zone and was jumped by Sonoma State keeper Brook Johnson, who met him 15 yards out.

Daniel Brown collected the carom and banged in his 24th goal of the season to give MSU an early 1-0 advantage in the seventh minute.

But the Seawolves bounced back and scored goals in the 31st and 39th minutes off a corner and a misclear to take a 2-1 lead into intermission.

Kyle Kmiec scored the equalizer less than two minutes into the second half when Brown redirected Rob Humphrey's throw in to Kmiec on the far post to knot the match at 2-2.

"We sorted things out at halftime against a very quick, young team," Elder said. "I'm proud of the way the guys stayed with it."

The Mustangs will be making their first trip to the NCAA Division II Championship semifinals, but have finished as NAIA national runners-up in 1982, 1983, 1991 and 1995.