Better late than never.
Colorado State (3-4-1) women’s soccer extended its win streak to two Friday night in Omaha on a buzzer-beating goal. The Rams beat Nebraska-Omaha (2-4-1) 1-0 on an overtime goal by senior Jessica Stauffer.
Stauffer’s goal came in the 110th minute, 24 seconds before the game would have ended in a tie. The goal was Stauffer’s first of the season.
In a game that was dominated by defense, the Rams found a way to push through in the end.
“It wasn’t the most ascetically pleasing event, but it was exciting,” CSU head coach Bill Hempen said. “We did enough to win. And my assistants and I have had that discussion about finding ways to win and grinding out, and we did tonight. That certainly will not go un-appreciated.”
Stauffer’s goal came off corner kick from sophomore teammate Janelle Stone.
“Like most corner kicks, it never seems to go to the right person,” Hempen said. “It ended up going to Jess at the top of (the box) with twenty-four seconds left in overtime and she got it on goal and made it through the maze of people and hit the post and goes in. And it’s the golden goal.”
The win marks the second in a row for the Rams, and the third on the season. It’s the first time the Rams have won two matches back-to-back in the young program’s history.
“You win twice in a row and get yourself a nice little streak going,” Hempen said. “But we certainly didn’t play our best. The girls form UNO, they fought just as hard. We are two pretty evenly matched teams. Jesse McGinley was very good again tonight, and our defense was so, so good tonight.”
Hempen had nothing but praise for the team’s defense on the night, especially the veteran players who are holding down the fort on the backline.
“Stauffer has jumped in as one of our center backs and (Megan) Speed and they are our most experienced players and they’re showing it,” Hempen it. “They are realizing the sacrifices that have to be made in order for a program to go forward and they’ve really laid it on the line.”
Colorado State will take the win with the understanding that they will need to improve in order to beat Creighton (6-3). Creighton will come into the contest having one-upped the Rams, beating Northern Colorado 3-0 as opposed to the Rams score of 3-1.
Collegian soccer reporter Chad Deutschman can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChadDeutschman.
