Box Score (html)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Jasmine Heffley made sure her first career goal as a Bulldog was a memorable one as she recorded the game-winner for SWOSU in a 2-1 victory over Concordia, St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn., on Sunday afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.
Facing an early deficit, the Bulldogs set to work erasing Concordia's lead. The Golden Bears jumped out to a fast start, scoring inside of 10 minutes on a dribbler of shot that just beat Flores to the inside of the right post. An active right flank saw
Lauren Williams and
Ashlyn Collier wear down CU's left defense throughout the first 45 minutes, allowing Williams to slide a ball through to
Cori Kelly on the right wing. Kelly picked her head up for long enough to spot the Golden Bears' Emma Gartner off her line before sending in a looping shot towards the goal. The ball went just over the outstretched fingertips of Gartner before nestling in the left-side netting in the 27th minute.
SWOSU had one final chance to take the lead in the first half as time expired when
Erica Brunet took an opportunistic shot from her defensive position that was unlucky enough to clang off the crossbar. A follow-up attempt by Heffley was belted directly at Gartner, who picked up the save to preserve the score line as the teams head into the interval knotted at one goal apiece.
The Bulldogs took the lead just under the hour mark thanks to an expertly whipped in cross by
Olivia Butler that found Heffley for the right-footed volley. Gartner and the Golden Bears thought they had kept the shot from crossing the line, but the ball was ruled to have crossed the goal line to the benefit of the Bulldogs.
Following the goal, Concordia tried to work their way back into the game, but it would prove fruitless. The Dawgs suffocated the game with possession, and the defense had few crises to extinguish as SWOSU saw out the game for their first victory of the 2015 season with a 2-1 score line.
With the win, SWOSU split their Minnesota trip 1-1 and move to 1-1-0 on the season. SWOSU will hold their home opener against Central Oklahoma on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 4 pm.
