PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Rockford University's Rianna Tovar scored the golden goal in overtime and the Lakeland University women's soccer team lost a 1-0 heartbreaker Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference duel.
Tovar headed in a corner kick by Samara Tanchuck at 94 minutes, 39 seconds of the match, putting a sudden end to a hotly contested match between two teams battling for position in the conference standings. Rockford (2-6 NACC) moved ahead of Lakeland (1-7 NACC) in the standings with just its second win over the Muskies in 16 meetings.
Both teams were held off the board in 90 minutes of play but Lakeland (1-11 overall) often had the possession advantage, outshooting the Regents 14-2 in regulation. The Muskies put six shots on goal, three in each half, and had a number of other runs including from the outside by
Hanna Brouch (
Fr.-Kaukauna, Wis.), who finished with five shot attempts.
Rockford (3-8 overall) generated just two shots in regulation, including its first shot on goal each in the second half by Autumn Harrington that was stopped by
Haley Rich (
Jr.-West Chicago, Ill.). The Regents would get their fourth corner kick of the game, though, in the 95th minute after a failed attempt to clear a ball out of bounds to the sideline. Tanchuck would send her corner kick into the box and Tovar crashed the goal and headed it into a tiny spot in the upper right corner of the net, between Rich and a Lakeland defender guarding the post.
Morgan Dolphin made five saves in goal to pick up the win for Rockford. Rich made one save for the Muskies, while
Marlen Reyes (
So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) and
Virginia Perez (
Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) also attempted three shots each for Lakeland.
Lakeland is on the road for its next three games, starting with a trip to face Edgewood College on Wednesday at 7 p.m.