All season, Emporia State women’s soccer coach Jim Schneiderhahn has preached about building a strong foundation for the Hornets to be successful in the future.
He might have gotten a glimpse of that future Friday afternoon at the TRYSA Soccer Complex, as ESU battled conference leader Missouri Southern to a tie through regulation before falling, 2-1, in overtime.
“I think we finally saw in these girls,” Schneiderhahn said, “what I knew was there all along.”
On a windy afternoon and a damp field, the Hornets didn’t look intimidated or outmatched against the best the MIAA has to offer.
“What stood out the most for me is this the best game we’ve played so far all season,” ESU keeper Megan Martin said. “We played a full 90 minutes.”
Unfortunately for ESU, 90 wouldn’t be enough. Just 2:41 into overtime, Jessica Harthcock’s shot from the left side sneaked by Martin, slowly finding its way into the net for the game-winner.
With the victory, Southern clinched the outright conference championship.
Alicia Smith helped ESU got off to a good start in the 25th minute.
The freshman received a well-placed pass from Alisha Barranco in the middle, blasting it from the top of the box off Southern keeper Kaney Tyler for a 1-0 Hornet advantage.
“We made them angry,” Martin said. “They were coming out here thinking that they could walk all over us. We weren’t going to let that happen. We were going to make them work for it.”
ESU took the lead into halftime before Southern tied it in the 49th minute.
Erin Whelan launched a shot from the right side that was batted away by Martin.
The carom bounded right to Nikki Llewellyn, who put it away for an unassisted goal to tie it.
The teams stayed knotted thanks to a strong individual effort from Martin.
In the 80th minute, Llewellyn threatened with a shot towards the top of the net, but an alert Martin punched it over the crossbar.
The sophomore also came up big in the 91st minute. Stephanie Heines beat a pair of defenders and made a clean run to the goal, but Martin stood her ground, denying the point-blank shot from five yards away.
“When your team’s playing so good,” Martin said, “it’s only right to make those saves.”
Harthcock’s Golden Goal came just one minute later.
ESU (3-14-1) will play its final game at 6 p.m. tonight, facing Southwest Baptist at the TRYSA Soccer Complex.