Nova Southeastern University issued the following announcement on Oct. 9.
The Nova Southeastern women's soccer team needed every ounce of effort they had to sneak past a formidable Sunshine State Conference foe in the Tampa Spartans with a 2-1 overtime victory on Saturday night.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 2, Tampa 1 (OT)
Records: Nova Southeastern (5-4-1, 3-2-0), Tampa (5-4-1, 4-2-0)
Location: Pepin Stadium | Tampa, Fla.
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_WSoccer | Instagram - @nsu_wsoccer | Facebook - /nsusoccer
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Both teams wasted no time, each with a shot in the first four minutes. After a combined five in a row off target, though, the first attempt on goal for either side found the net, as the Spartans took the lead in the 28th minute.
The Sharks kept up the pace with two more shots in the ensuing four minutes, and it paid off for them in the 36th when Brianna Paige intercepted a pass at midfield and sent it ahead, where Dejah Holman caught up and kicked it in from just outside the short edge on the right side of the box.
NSU keeper Shannon Hearty made two more saves before halftime to maintain the tie.
Both teams had chances to break the tie, but Hearty made another pair of saves in the 52nd and 73rd minutes, while the lone shot on goal by the NSU offense was stopped in the 83rd.
The momentum swing came in the 95th minute, when the Sharks committed a foul in the box, giving the Spartans a penalty kick and a golden opportunity to win the game. However, Hearty made the save of the game, and perhaps of her entire Sharks career, jumping to her right to get just enough of the ball to knock it away.
A free kick going the other direction was launched all the way up the field by Paige, where Holman once again raced it down and passed it over to Jordyn Pitter, then across the box to Emma Brown and back to Louise Matsgard, who rocketed the ball into the right side of the net for the game-winning golden goal. From staring down certain defeat, the Sharks flipped the script to celebrating victory in a mere 44 seconds.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
The Sharks held a narrow 14-13 edge in shots overall, including 7-6 in the first half and 6-5 in the second.
Chama Silva led the team with five shots, four of which came in the first half. No one else on the team had more than two.
Holman and Matsgard both notched their second goals of the season. Matsgard's first was also a game-winner, the lone score in the team's 1-0 victory vs. Florida Tech exactly one week prior, which earned her SSC Player of the Week honors in the process.
Hearty made seven saves in the win, giving her a total of 29 in her last four matches, for a save percentage of .853.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
The Sharks' last golden goal was off the foot of Emma Heikkila on Sept. 28, 2019, 6:31 into another SSC road win, that time at Florida Southern.
The Sharks improve to 6-17-4 all-time against the Tampa Spartans, picking up just their third road win in the series history. They were winless in their first 10 meetings (nine losses, one tie) before earning their first 'W' in the 2009 season, a full 10 years after the first matchup.
Original source can be found here.
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