Desiree Berry and Karli Vath celebrate the opening salvo
EUGENE, Ore. – A Heather Henderson goal in the waining moments of the second half, sent the game into overtime knotted at four goals apiece. Freshman Karli Vath scored twice and added two assists, as the the Beacons rallied for a 5-4 win over Simpson University in dramatic fashion.
Vath would send the Mike Kelly Field crowd away in a frenzy, scoring in the 101st-minute of play inside a minute of the start of the second overtime; as NCU (2-4) turns away the visiting Red Hawks of Simpson, 5-4 win for the Beacons.
After ending the regulation knotted at four goals apiece, both teams return to the field to play the opening overtime to a stalemate. Head Coach Vern Stewart praised his team’s effort, then reminded them that the game would be won or lost in the opening five minutes of the final stanza.
“I saw the look in their eyes, and after this weekend in Montana it was a hunger to earn the victory, said Stewart. I told them that this game would be decided by one team in the first five minutes of the second overtime and thankfully it was us.”
The Beacons didn’t waste anytime lighting up the digits on the board, as sophomore Desriee Berry struck in the 9th minute of play deflected off the SU keeper Jordan England off the pass from Vath. The goal by Berry was her first collegiate tally in two season at NCU, and on this Vath proved she was just getting started.
Senior captain Sam Stewart allowed NCU to regain the lead (2-1) in the 16th-minute of play, as Brittany McKinley fed Stewart the ball and watched Stewart work her offensive magic on the SU defense.
Before the half, with the game deadlocked at two goals apiece, Vath struck in the 34th minute off a Dominique Wilson pass; as the freshman standout took the give from Wilson and left two Red Hawks in her wake en route to a upper-center shot that rifled past a helpless England.
Morgan DeFazio would quell the momentary jubilee five minutes later in the 39th-minute of play, to draw SU even (3-3) at the intermission.
Both the Beacons and Simpson played a strategic second half of soccer, as Elaine Hegge found the back of the net off a deflected shot from freshman Sadie Barlow. The stellar strike was recorded after the initial volley was knocked around between multiple players from opposing sides, only to reverberate off the goal support before laying to rest in the back of the opposite side of the goal.
NCU freshman Heather Henderson scored in the 86th-minute of regulation, off the pass from Vath again (who tied the program record for single-season assists at four). Henderson scored her third goal on the year from a send in the lower right corner, and powered home the shot moments before the end of regulation.