OKLAHOMA CITY – The 15th-ranked Oklahoma City University women's soccer team finished their regular season with an unblemished conference record. The Stars beat Oklahoma Baptist in a 2-1, double-overtime match at Stars Field on Tuesday.
OCU (16-2, 11-0) will now enter into the Sooner Athletic Conference post-season tournament as the No. 1 seed, and is expected to play host to Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., at Stars Field.
Regardless of how the Stars fare in the conference tournament, the women are guaranteed a spot in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round with their regular-season conference title.
Coach Brian Harvey's outlook on the upcoming post-season is one of cautious optimism. “What we have to do is just make sure we have a good balance of being competitive and steering clear of injuries before we go to the national tournament.”
The pace of play in the match was slow-going in the first half, but Meghan McMahon, a freshman from Oklahoma City, netted the first goal of the match in the 53rd minute of play. She received a deep crossing pass from the right side of the field that found McMahon in stride near the left edge of the goal for the Stars' score. McMahon notched her 12th goal of the season on the play.
Oklahoma Baptist quickly answered with a goal of their own in the 56th minute when Cara Cecil knocked in the tying score.
The remaining 34 minutes of regulation went scoreless, though the Stars had three shot attempts in the final ten minutes of regulation. Sheridan Horner chipped in a try that was saved in the 82nd minute, and Gianna Puskarich added two others in the 86th minute as time wound down.
In the first period of the golden goal overtime period, both teams played the 10 minutes in a defensive battle, each only managing one shot apiece. In the second overtime period, however, the Stars began to play an attacking style to get their final conference win.
Malin Andersson, a senior from Huskvarna, Sweden, had a shot attempt saved in the 103rd minute of play for OCU. The Stars continued to be on the aggressive, and in the 105th minute of play it paid off. Margaret Lee's shot found its mark to break the stalemate and give OCU the victory. Lee, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla., received a pass from Andersson to knock in the game-winning goal. This marks Lee's first collegiate goal, and Andersson's 17th assist of the season.
“It's nice to end up the regular Sooner Athletic Conference schedule without a defeat,” Harvey said. “Congratulations. My hat is off to the women for a wonderful SAC season.”
More details on the finalized SAC tournament schedule and parings will be released as they become available.
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