Late Goal Lifts Lady Bison in Ada

Box Score (html)
 
ADA, Okla. – Ruth King scored a poacher's goal in a dramatic, late push by Oklahoma Baptist Women's Soccer to secure all three points on Thursday night against East Central in Ada, moving into a tie for third place in the Great American Conference.
 
Starting out on the front foot, Oklahoma Baptist saw Lara Haring-Lovett and King get a pair of shots off inside the first five minutes, though both were off the mark. The breakthrough would be forthcoming early for OBU, however, with Abigail Hicks scoring her third of the season when she found herself alone on the right side of the box and coolly stroked the ball past ECU's Lexi Hurley in the 10th minute. Unfortunately, the Bison would see the match tied back up at 1-1 by the Tigers within a minute of the restart.
 
Undeterred, King forced a pair of saves by Hurley, and Yamilex Sanchez had a shot blocked, as OBU fought to regain the lead. The Lady Baptist's goal advantage would be restored through Kenzi Bice in the 35th minute when her long-range strike took a slight deflection off the referee. The deflection was enough to wrong-foot Hurley, giving Bice her second tally of the season. Again, a pesky ECU team drew level within three minutes to send the match into the break knotted up at 2-2.
 
Markella Suka picked up OBU's offensive onslaught right where the Lady Bison left off, but both her efforts went wide of goal. Emma Beck was then called into action, producing a pair of fine saves to maintain parity in the match.
 
With the match entering the final five minutes, OBU turned up the pressure, with efforts by King and Kerregan Edwards blocked by a scrambling ECU side. Suka then found herself some space to get a shot off, and despite her effort being saved, King positioned herself well to collect the rebound, tapping home the decisive third goal with just over two minutes left in the match for a 3-2 win.
 
An OBU offense that ran rampant all night took a season-high 32 shots, outshooting East Central, 32-12. King accounted for a full quarter of OBU's shots, with eight taken and four put on-frame, of which one gave OBU their second win of the week. Four other Lady Bison took four shots each.
 
Oklahoma Baptist (5-3, 2-2 GAC) will take the weekend off. They will return to action on Monday, Oct. 3 when they welcome Jarvis Christian College to the OBU Soccer Complex for a 5 p.m. contest.