CEDARVILLE, Ohio - The 2013 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship needed extra time to decide a champion, and Davis and Elkins claimed its first-ever G-MAC Championship, taking advantage of an own goal by Ursuline to win 2-1 in the first overtime.
The championship match followed almost the exact script of the win D&E had over Ursuline in the regular season. In their previous meeting, D&E trailed 1-0 in the first half, tied the game in the second half to force overtime where they claimed the win.
On Saturday, the Arrows jumped out to a 1-0 lead with the 25 mph wind at their backs in the first half, on a goal by G-MAC Freshman of the Year Cassie Cripe. Cripe scored her third goal of the G-MAC Championship Tournament, as Vanessa Consiglio sent in a ball from the left side and Paige Rowan put a shot on goal that hit the right post and was tapped in by Cripe. Rowan and Consiglio were both credited with assists.
The score remained 1-0 at halftime, but it didn’t take long for the Senators to tie the game up as they put the pressure on with the wind now at their backs. In the third minute of the second half, Laia Dordas took a header into the box from Marisa Morris and then chipped it over the reach of Ursuline goalkeeper Helen Jazzar to tie the game.
Ursuline and Davis & Elkins exchanged multiple scoring chances through the next 42 minutes, but no one could put away the game-winner. Through 90 minutes each team had nine shots on goal - Ursuline had seven of nine in the first half with the wind advantage and Davis & Elkins had eight in the second half with the wind at their backs.
As the teams went into overtime, the coin flip figured to be the most important aspect of the game. D&E won the toss and chose to have the wind advantage in the first overtime. Surprisingly, Ursuline controlled the first five minutes of the overtime period, earning two shots and three scoring opportunities.
However, a long run by the Senators put some pressure on the Arrows to clear the ball and with the wind, UC could not get a solid clear and a simple flick into the box by D&E got a push from the wind, a high bounce and another push from the wind and Ursuline ended up backed up to their goal line and knocked it in on a desperate attempt to clear.
For Davis and Elkins, it is the school’s first G-MAC title as they are a newcomer to the conference in 2013-14 and prevented Ursuline from winning its first soccer conference championship ever, despite playing in three-straight tournament finals in the last three seasons (Ohio Athletic Conference in 2011 and back-to-back G-MAC finals).