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COLUMBUS – The Capital University women's soccer team seemed to be in cruise control Saturday before being stunned in the final 20 minutes by Mount Union 2-1 in an Ohio Athletic Conference match at Bernlohr Stadium.

The Crusaders (8-6-1 overall, 3-1-1 OAC) held the lead for nearly 70 minutes before the Purple Raiders evened the match at 1-1 in the 70th minute.

Mount Union (9-4, 3-2) continued its momentum and tallied one more in the 82nd minute, stunning Capital and a large crowd watching in the stands.

"It is a very disappointing loss because we've been playing like this for the last few games and surviving," Capital coach Chris Kouns said. "It's a bitter pill … we can't continue to have lapses where we don't have everyone's focus or everyone playing hard and expect to win. But this is part of the growth process of the program … we'll have some ups and some downs."

Senior Alexa Bosanac (Strongsville, Ohio; below left) recorded her second goal of the year to give the Crusaders a 1-0 advantage in the 50th minute. Freshman Allison Mervau (Micanopy, Fla.) played a ball from the right corner of the box, and senior Kate Connell (Drexel Hill, Pa.) let the ball through to Bosanac, who connected from 15 yards out, placing the ball just over the reach of the keeper.

Junior goalkeeper Maggie Donnellan (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted four saves, playing all 90 minutes in front of the net. Capital held the edge on both shots (10-9) and corner kicks (5-3) in the contest. The Crusaders had three corner kick opportunities in the final eight minutes, but came up short in their attempt to square the match.

Bosanac and Connell, along with fellow seniors Dani Irwin (LaGrange, Ky.) and Natalie Fiorelli (Pickerington, Ohio), were recognized prior to their second-to-last regular season match at Bernlohr Stadium. Each player received a keepsake photo collage and were accompanied by family members and a junior, sophomore or freshman teammate of their choosing. 

"Each of these young ladies has played a vital role in the ongoing development of the current culture within our program," Kouns said. "They have been successful in the classroom, on the soccer field and will no doubt be successful in the real world. To each of them I offer my heartfelt thanks for the role they played in helping this program succeed and helping the players in the program realize their dreams as collegiate student-athletes."

Capital looks to recover this Wednesday at Marietta. Match time is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Marietta, Ohio.