Lady Bison Golden in GAC Final

Box Score (html)
 
SHAWNEE – The No. 1-seeded Lady Bison completed a perfect run through the Great American Conference with a 3-2 extra time win over No. 2-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday night at the OBU Soccer Complex.
 
With the win, Oklahoma Baptist secures their passage into the NCAA Central Regional, the first national tournament appearance for the squad since making the move to Division II.
 
"Two great teams battling it out," said head coach Mike White following the win. "It feels great to come out on top."
 
The Lady Bison, showing a penchant for postseason dramatics, again needed more than just the allotted 90 minutes of regulation to claim victory. With the match tied 2-2 at the end of the second half, OBU went to extra time for the second time in as many matches.
 
However, penalty kicks wouldn't be necessary this time as Hannah White found the golden touch for OBU, scoring in the 92nd minute off a flick on by Tori Kitchel off Jennifer Goethe's corner kick.
 
Kelsey Bumgarner opened the scoring in the title bout in just the 13th minute of play. The junior right back made a run down her flank, and what was likely intended to be a cross found its way to the back of SWOSU's net for a 1-0 advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as SWOSU pulled level in the 20th minute.
 
Shortly after the restart, OBU found themselves down, 2-1, in the 48th minute. Kitchel knotted the match back up in the 52nd minute, though. The freshman navigated around two Bulldog defenders in tight quarters before firing a low shot near-post that beat SWOSU's keeper.
 
Following the match, Kerregan Edwards was named the GAC Tournament MVP, while Hannah Evans, Emmily Infante, Goethe and White were all named to the GAC All-Tournament Team.
 
Oklahoma Baptist (15-4-1) now await their regional assignment, which will be announced Monday, Nov. 5 during a 5:30 p.m. webstream on NCAA.com.