SHAWNEE – Ouachita's Gracen Turner scored with less than four minutes left to help the visiting Tigers to a 1-0 win over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday morning at the OBU Soccer Complex.
The late score boosted Ouachita's record to 7-1-1 and a 4-0 in the GAC. As for the Bison, they dipped their record to 3-4-1 and 2-1 in the conference.
Until the final moments, it was the Bison that appeared more capable of finding nylon. The green and gold out-shot the visitors in each half and had a distinct 7-2 advantage on shots on-goal.
In the first stanza, there were two near-perfect shots from
Hannah White and
Keely Hampton, respectively. The first of those from White saw as Tigers goalie Michele Snow, a player ranked at the top of the GAC in goals against average and save percentage, leap from the center of the goalmouth to deflect the ball above the crossbar.
Hampton's shot at 29:49 was just like White's, with Snow making another jump to deflect the shot away. The Bison got one more look from
Alanna Bloomingdale, however, her attempt with less than 12 minutes left was denied again by Snow.
For the Bison defense, it more than held its own, holding the Tigers to a mere one shot on-goal until the end.
After the break, Oklahoma Baptist added three more shots on target. Two of those came from
Tori Kitchel while
Annie Louthan added the other. Those shots weren't as problematic as the first-half shots for Snow, but the Ouachita goalie stopped them to keep the scoreboard 0-0.
The Bison also had a couple through-ball opportunities in the second but couldn't finish.
Then with 86:11 on the clock, Ouachita broke through. After a turnover by OBU on the far sideline and a couple of dribbles, Sydni Perry drove into the left side of the box, crossed a pass, and watched as Turner put it into the right, lower corner.
OBU had one more shot, from
Kaylee Swaner, but did not find the equalizer.
On Oct. 5, the Bison will look to bounce back when they host Southern Nazarene at 5 p.m.
