South Bend, Ind. – The Bethel women’s soccer team welcomed in St. Francis for a Crossroads League matchup on Tuesday evening at the Indiana Invaders Soccer Complex and came away with a 2-1 win in double overtime. The Pilots improve to 4-8-2 overall and 2-3 in Crossroads League play.
The Pilots and Cougars (7-8-0, 1-5-0) went back and forth for the first 83 minutes of the game before Saint Francis’s Hannah Elzinga got one by Tessa Zimmerly (SO/Shipshewana, Ind.) to go ahead 1-0 with just under seven minutes remaining.
Grace Smithberger (SR/South Bend, Ind.) didn’t take long to find the equalizer as less than two minutes later she took the ball down the left side of the box and beat the keeper to the post to knot the score 1-1 in the 85th minute and force the game into extra time.
Both teams had two shots on goal in the first overtime session, but were denied each time. Then in the second extra session, Lian Glomski(FR/Gobles, Mich.) played the ball to Kama Hardy (SO/Toledo, Ohio) on the left side just inside the box whose rocket beat the keeper far side on the fly to give the Pilots a 2-1 overtime win in the 108th minute.
The Pilots put pressure on the Cougars all match long, outshooting them 24-12. Zimmerly made five saves while Hardy and Smithberger had five shots each, two of seven Pilots with multiple shots on the night.
“Great belief from our women tonight to rally back after going down,” stated Head Coach Jamie Lindvall. “I thought we created a lot of dangerous opportunities and USF’s keeper came up with some big saves before Grace equalized and Kama hit the game winner. Outstanding collective effort from our women tonight on both the defensive and attacking ends!”
The Pilots return to the pitch on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Huntington for a 3:00 kick-off in Crossroads League action.
