ASHLAND, Ore. – A goal from
Eme McLaughlin in the 84th minute temporarily postponed a 1 goal loss for the University of Providence women's soccer team, but the Lady Argos clinched a playoff berth despite a 2-1 (2OT) loss to Southern Oregon University.
UP entered the final weekend of regular season play in the Cascade Collegiate Conference within a three-way tie for fifth place in the CCC standings with 15 total points. A win against SOU would have guaranteed a playoff spot for UP, but so would a loss for Carroll College and the Fighting Saints lost to Oregon Tech well before the Lady Argos kicked off against the Raiders.
The game itself got off to a rather lackadaisical start. Through the first 11 minutes, the only two plays of note were two fouls on SOU. It wasn't until the 12th minute that the game's first shot was loosed. That effort was a dangerous one though from the Raiders, forcing UP's goalkeeper
Dakota Neumann to make her first save.
In the following 10 minutes, 3 more shots were taken, two from the Lady Argos that missed the mark and another that went wide from Southern Oregon. The first shot to find the back of the net came in the 22nd minute when an SOU cross found Kelsey Randall open from 10 yards. From there, she let off a shot that went off of Neumann's hands and into the left side netting.
After another six minutes of play, the Lady Argos made a charge at an equalizer, getting off 2 shots and a corner kick in the 28th minute, but all of those efforts failed and would be the team's last look at the net for quite a while.
For the remaining 15 minutes of the second half and 35 minutes of the second half, the Lady Argos failed to get off a shot or take a corner kick. In that same span of time, the Raiders took 7 shots and had a handful of corner kicks, but Neumann was able to turn away a few shots on goal to keep the Lady Argos within 1.
Having generated essentially no offense in over 50 minutes of play, it seemed unlikely that UP would score in the final 10. Sophomore forward
Eme McLaughlin clearly did care what it seemed like.
She received a pass from senior forward
Alejandra Guzman that free her up on the left wing. A few dribbles brought her to a one-on-one situation with SOU's goalkeeper from 15 yards out. The conference's third leading goal scorer did waste the chance, beating the keeper to tie the game with six minutes left to play.
Before the end of regulation, junior midfielder
Sydney Knieriem got off another shot on goal for UP, but this time the shot was saved and the game went into overtime.
The momentum from McLaughlin's equalizer spilled over into the first overtime. The sophomore got off 2 shots in the first minute of the extra period, the first requiring a save to keep it from scoring while the other was blocked by a defender before earning a corner kick.
Not converting on those early looks caught up with the Lady Argos in the second overtime. Southern Oregon regained control of play in the period, getting off 4 shots and 3 corner kicks before scoring the game winner with less than two minutes left before the game would have ended in a tie.
The final goal came off of a mad scramble in front of the Lady Argo net after an SOU corner kick. Daisy Cervantes was the one who finally got a piece of the loose ball and put it in from five yards out.
McLaughlin and Knieriem combined for 6 of UP's 11 shots in the game and all 3 of the team's shots on goal.
With one game left in the regular season, the Lady Argos have a record of 6-8 (5-5) on the year and sit seventh in the conference standings. UP could still slip to eighth but won't go lower than that, and could potentially climb another spot or two with a win over Oregon Tech on October 28.
The CCC playoffs will start on November 3 in Springfield, Oregon.
