ADA, Ohio -- A tough-played match between the Capital University women's soccer team and Ohio Northern University faded on into overtime before the Comets were upended in heartbreaking fashion with just under three minutes remaining in the match.
It took a 108th minute goal from Lauren Naso to break a 1-1 scoreline and prevent a repeat of the 2020 OAC Semifinal match and decide who would take on Otterbein University in the Championship match this Saturday.
After ONU took a late lead in the first half, Capital's
Avery Hart leveled things on the hour mark to send the game into overtime where Naso ended matters before penalties would be needed.
The first half of play started in favor of Capital as the ball remained in the Comet attacking third. Unfortunately with no rewards for the Comets, the tide shifted in favor of ONU, who then kept the ball in their attacking half for most of the first 45 minutes.
The pressure from the Polar Bears paid off in the 43rd minute of action. Cap's
Lexi Snider began to carry the ball out of the back and appeared to be fouled, but the referee allowed play to continue with ONU's Alyssa Beckett in possession of the ball. Beckett sent a shot off the crossbar where Lauren Naso followed up to slot past Cap goalkeeper
Lauren White, pushing ONU ahead just before halftime.
Out of the half, Capital found some energy as head coach
Matt Ogden had his team playing further forward. The early second half pressure eventually paid dividends for the Comets.
In the 60th minute,
Olivia Rotolo and
Aaliyah Brletic combined to set up
Avery Hart. Hart took one touch past the ONU backline and found herself one-on-one with the Polar Bear goalkeeper. There, Hart calmed any nerves and slipped a shot under Kristy Catrine to level the score at 1-1. The goal was Hart's ninth of the season.
With the tied ballgame, a bit of deja vu seemed to set in as the game ticked to overtime. For those that don't remember, in the same fixture last season on the same field, a tied game went to two overtimes and 12 rounds of penalty kicks to decide a winner.
In the first period of added time, ONU seemed to have most of the possession, but neither team really threatened with chances.
In the second stanza of overtime, Cap seemed to be the aggressor as Hart slung a couple of shots toward Catrine in goal. Unfortunately for Cap, Catrine was equal to the task and kept the shots at bay.
Eventually, the Polar Bears broke the tie and won the game with just over two minutes remaining in the match. Emma Bowman took a shot to the top right corner where
Lauren White made an outstanding save, but once again Lauren Naso was on the doorstep to clean up for the Polar Bears to win the game in their favor, 2-1.
Capital was outshot in the match 20-7, and
Lauren White had arguably the game of her season with nine saves, stopping ONU from scoring on multiple occasions. Catrine stopped two shots in her efforts.
Overall, Capital started the season with one of the toughest non-conference slates in recent memory and struggled early to not only get results, but to score. Eventually, though, the resilience showed through as Capital rattled off a seven game winning streak midway through the season via a combined scoreline of 18-1 in those matches. The sharp play late in the season led to a final record of 9-8-2 overall.
