Stephen F. Austin
Rice
Rice Nips SFA In OT
9/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 4, 2009
Box Score |
PHOTO GALLERY 
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Rice Friday in the Ladyjacks' home opener. But the Owls answered with two goals to put the game into overtime then sealed their 3-2 victory with a game-winning golden goal by Julia Barrow in the 99th minute.
Rice picked up its first win of the season to move to 1-2-1, while the Ladyjacks fell to 1-3-0 with their third consecutive loss.
"Again, we led in all the stats and weren't able to turn that into a win," SFA head coach George Van Linder said. "It's great to get out to a 2-0 lead, but we've got to protect it better."
The Ladyjacks fell behind early in both games at last weekend's UTEP Miner Classic, but SFA got on the board in the first minute against Rice. Freshman Kylie Louw found classmate Laura Sadler open eight yards out, just to the right of the goal, and Sadler beat Owls 'keeper Meghan Erkel with a low shot to the far post. The goal, just 47 seconds into the match, is the first of Sadler's career, and Louw picked up her team-leading third assist of the season on the play.
Louw got in the scoring summary again 30 minutes later, when she broke through the Rice defense on a long run and beat Erkel with a low, hard shot from about 14 yards out. That strike gave SFA a 2-0 advantage in the 31st minute.
But Rice converted one of its two first-half corner kicks in the 38th minute when Alexa Coralli scored from close range to get within a goal. The Owls tied the score in the 69th minute when Korey Taylor took a nice cross from Erin Scott and finished the run with a low shot past SFA's Courtney Bauder.
Barrow converted the game-winner halfway into the overtime period when SFA misplayed a Rice throw-in from the sideline. The ball caromed into empty space in front of the net, and Barrow closed on it, bouncing a shot off a diving Bauder and into the net to set the final score.
For the game, SFA finished with a 21-8 advantage in shots and a 9-5 edge in shots on goal. The Ladyjacks also narrowly missed first-half goals on two other occasions, as Sadler hit the crossbar in the 26th minute, and sophomore Janae Lee banged a shot off the bar in the 41st minute.
"I told our kids afterward that it's kind of like that loss to Southeastern Louisiana in last year's Southland Tournament, when we lost in a shootout," Van Linder said. "It's always painful to lose like that, but, hopefully, we can learn and take something away from it."
Sadler led the Ladyjacks with five shot attempts. Both of Louw's shots were on goal, as were all three of Jayne Jahnke's attempts. Bauder (1-2-1) finished with two saves.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action next Friday, when they start a two-game road trip with a contest at Missouri State. That game is set for a 6 p.m. start. Two days later, SFA will play at Arkansas.
-- SFA --
