SEARCY, Ark. – It was better late than never for Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday night as it scored with less than 90 seconds left to defeat the Harding Lady Bisons 1-0 in Great American Conference play.
Hannah Evans sprinted down the OBU sideline, passed to
Tori Kitchel, and the senior fired from about 13 yards out into the right corner for her fifth goal of the year. With the result, the green and gold ran their win streak to five and improved to 8-4-1 and 7-1 in the GAC.
Up until that point, the Bison had chances aplenty, especially in the first half. In that opening stanza, OBU held a 12-7 shots advantage. Three of those attempts nearly found nylon.
At 13:33, Kitchel drove down the right end line and found an open
Kaylee Swaner. The sophomore's right-footed shot deflected off the right post and the rebounded shot from
Abigail Parker went high.
A little over 12 minutes later, Swaner got another great look, however, her header attempt missed right. The Bison found one more look in the 36th minute. A cross came to the middle of the box and
Annie Louthan's header attempt was stopped by a diving Payton Milby at the left post.
Harding did have a couple chances, as well. In the 33rd minute, Samantha Rupe's attempt from the right side hit the top crossbar and a few ticks later, the put-back shot from Briley-Anne Brown was saved by
Ireland Jeffrey. That was one of five stops on the night for the freshman keeper.
In the second half, the score remained 0-0 despite Oklahoma Baptist continuing to pelter the Harding net. In fact, the Bison out-shot the hosts by a 16-4 margin. Despite things not going their way, the Bison kept fighting until the end as Kitchel scored her fourth game-winner, tied for most in the GAC.
OBU will stay in Arkansas the next two days and face off against Ouachita on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Tigers are the only team to beat OBU in conference play this fall. That was a 1-0 decision back on Oct. 2.
