COMMERCE – Trailing 2-0 at halftime at a windy Lion Soccer Field, the St. Mary's Rattlers charged back to force overtime and scored the golden goal in double overtime to beat the Texas A&M University-Commerce soccer team, 4-3, on Wednesday night.
 
With strong winds being a factor all day, the Lions won the pre-match coin toss and elected to attack against the wind in the first half. Five of the seven goals scored came against the wind on the night.
 
The Lions scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the match, both goals coming against the wind.
 
In the fifth minute, the Rattlers took a goal kick that was headed by Hailey Griffin (Trophy Club – Byron Nelson) towards Cora Welch (Plano), who sailed towards the goal and opened up the scoring.
 
Karalie Morrison (North Richland Hills – Colleyville Heritage) scored her 10^th goal of the season in the eighth minute to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Morrison went in for a turnover, stole the ball away, and took it home for the goal.
 
The Rattlers outshot the Lions, 9-5 in the first half. The Lions did outshoot the Rattlers, 21-17 in the match.
 
In the second half, the Rattlers cut it to 2-1 in the 49^th minute. Eliza Morrison passed it towards Juni Ejere, who kicked it in the back of the net.
 
Leslie Campuzano (Garland – Lakeview Centennial) made it a 3-1 lead for the Lions with a goal in the 59^th minute, her eighth of the season. The senior forward took a shot just outside the box that was the first goal of the night with the wind.
 
The Rattlers tied the match in a span of 10 minutes. Miranda Narvaez scored on a cross pass from Alexis Garcia and Megan Copeland went pass the Lion defense, scoring the equalizing goal on a pass from Narvaez.
 
The two teams combined for six goals and 35 shots in the first 90 minutes, but neither team was able to walk away with the win in regulation.
 
In the first overtime period, the Lions had three shots, including a shot on goal by Welch, which was saved by Rebecca Difronzo, who had five saves in the match.
 
The Rattlers were awarded a free kick about 23 yards out after a handball called on the Lions in second overtime. Copeland took the free kick, which went directly into the back of the net to give the Rattlers three critical points in the conference standings.
 
The Lions, who drop to 6-7-2 on the season and 4-5-1 in Lone Star Conference play, have dropped two matches in a row at home. St. Mary's is 8-5-2 overall and 5-3-2 in LSC matches. With three matches left in the regular season, the Lions are in tie for eighth place with 13 points.
 
Welch had seven shots in the match, while Campuzano and Morrison had three each. Welch had four shots on goal, playing as an attacking midfielder. Christina Hernandez (Denison) had two shots off the bench.
 
Copeland led St. Mary's with five shots. Lauren Banning (Pflugerville) made four saves in the match, her third consecutive start. Griffin made her first career start for the Lions.



POST MATCH INTERVIEW
 
UP NEXT
The Lions hit the road for their next two matches, before returning home for Senior Day next weekend. A&M-Commerce faces Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at Noon central time and is at Texas A&M International on Wednesday, November 3 at 3 p.m.