Lakeland, Fla.- The Southeastern University women's soccer team was able to remain undefeated this season as they took down the reigning NAIA National Champions and Sun Conference rival, the Keiser University Seahawks in a 2-1 overtime thriller and advance to 8-0 on the season.
The Fire silenced the offense of the reigning champs with the Seahawks only goal coming on an own goal by Southeastern in the 34
th minute. Freshman Makayla Peddycourt could have picked no better time to net her first collegiate goal than in the 14
th minute of the match. Peddycourt gained control of a loose ball about ten yards short of midfield and was able to place it directly into the upper 90 of the Seahawk goal giving the Fire a 1-0 lead. The match remained a one goal match in favor of the Fire until the own goal that tied the match at one a piece.
The offense for both sides was quieted for the remainder of regulation time sending the Sun Conference Game of the Week into overtime. The Fire needed less than a minute of overtime to take the victory after they were able to capitalize on a corner kick from
Naira Lopez when junior
Jennifer Luna managed to break through the host of Seahawk defenders and head the ball past the keeper giving the Fire their first victory over the Seahawks in five years and her third goal of the season.
When asked about her game winning overtime header Luna stated, "We were able to regroup quickly after regulation going into overtime and knew we needed to score first and capitalize on the first chance that we got. I was able to read the corner well from Naira and found the back of the net. It means a lot for us to see our hard work and training paying off."
Coach
Alan Berrios also stated, "We've been talking about effort all year and said before the match that effort and enthusiasm was going to win this game and these girls didn't give up and kept fighting and I'm super proud of their effort tonight."
Keeper
Holly Eddins moved to 7-0 on the season after recording 9 saves.
The Fire will be in action again Wednesday, October 28th at 11 a.m. when they travel to Bluffton, S.C. to take on the University of South Carolina Beufort.
