SIUE won its first Ohio Valley Conference women’s soccer tournament title in a 3-2 overtime decision over Jacksonville State Sunday and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“This team has risen to the occasion and has refused to give in,” said SIUE Head Coach Derek Burton.
The Gamecocks scored the first two goals of the game, leaving the Cougars with a 2-0 deficit with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation. Both Jacksonville State’s goals were scored by Kelsey Bright.
SIUE didn’t find the back of the net until the 84th minute. Kayla Delgado headed in a ball that snuck past the Gamecock defense and over JSU goalkeeper Caroline Robinson to make the score 2-1 with less than six minutes remaining the game.
Less than one minute later, a JSU handball in the box resulted in a penalty kick for the Cougars. Senior Michelle Auer easily put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game at two.
A stifling Cougar defense, led by first team All-OVC senior Samantha Jones, sent the game into overtime.
The Cougars continued their scoring run with the game-winner in the 95th minute, again from Delgado.
The win sends the Cougars to its first NCAA D-I tournament.
The NCAA Tournament selection show, which determines the opponent and location of the first tournament game, will be live streamed on NCAA.com this afternoon at 3:30 p.m.