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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's soccer team defeated Southwest Baptist University 2-1 in double overtime Sunday afternoon at DeLoache Field.

The win for the RiverHawks (8-10, 5-9 MIAA), coupled with a loss by Northwest Missouri State at Lindenwood and a loss by Nebraska-Kearney to Emporia State, allowed NSU to vault from 10th to eighth in the final league table and qualify for the MIAA Championship tournament.

Northeastern State will meet top seed and No. 9-ranked Central Missouri at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 in Warrensburg, Missouri. UCM defeated NSU 4-2 on Oct. 19 in Tahlequah. This is the third-straight year that the RiverHawks will compete in the conference championship.

The Bearcats (14-4, 11-3 MIAA) maintained second in the league standings and will play host to Emporia State.

SBU jumped in front Sunday on a 43rd minute goal by Kate Jamison. Jamison's goal came against the run of play as she struck a ball from 30 yards out, which was just above the reach of sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Woodruff.

NSU tied the match in the 53rd minute. Sophomore forward Anastasia Robinson crossed the ball from the left side to the far post where Julia Mathis was waiting. The freshman midfielder volleyed the ball and it pinged off the post and into the net. The two teams would play the rest of regulation without a goal.

Mathis got pulled down in the penalty box with just 2:20 to play in the second overtime, and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Junior midfielder McKenzie Musella stepped up and buried the ball in the back of the net to secure the 108th-minute victory and three crucial MIAA points for the RiverHawks.

NSU was outshot by Southwest Baptist 21-11. The Bearcats had 20 shots in the previous meeting between the teams on Oct. 23.

Woodruff (8-10) played all 108 minutes and gave up the lone goal. She made a season high nine saves, which also tied her career high. SBU keeper Cheyenne Forshey saved three shots and conceded one goal in 102:23. She made her exit after sustaining an injury, and Kaitlin Webb was called upon to finish the match. She took her first loss of the season after allowing the PK despite getting her hand on the shot.

The win was the first OT triumph for Northeastern State since Oct. 18 of last season when NSU also defeated SBU in an extra session. The loss snapped a five-match win streak for the Bearcats. They had only conceded one goal total in their last five matches and had only conceded two goals in a single match twice this year.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH CHASE WOOTEN
Opening Statement...
"I said on Tuesday at Coaches Corner that a win over UCO on Friday would really set the table for today. We were disappointed to lose that game in overtime. I felt like we played well enough to win in all aspects of the game. We carried that over to today. We created good chances. Certainly our goalkeeper played well. We knew we would need her to step up and she did. We wanted to do everything we could to have an attacking mindset."

On players that stood out...
"Here's what we saw with our young team. We had a few players get banged up, and they played through it. We're proud of those efforts. Anastasia (Robinson) got hurt, Chelsea (Martin) got hurt. I thought we showed some grit and character that we can persevere through it all."

On his thoughts when the referee signaled for the penalty kick...
"This whole weekend of two tough matches was all about team synergy for us. We wanted to be at a point where we could work together in concert. If our team synergy was good, then I thought we could win today. If we disconnected and were pulled apart, then it was going to be very difficult. When the referee pointed to the spot, I thought that would obviously be our best chance for all that hard work and synergy to go our way."
 
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