The Southeastern women's soccer team punched their ticket to the Sun Conference final, capturing a hard-fought 2-1 victory in overtime against Florida Memorial.
The opening half featured intense back-and-forth action as both sides searched for an opening, with Southeastern applying heavy pressure through multiple corner kicks and shots on target from
Rebecca Laface and
Olivia Hadad, while goalkeepers
Madison Songer and Isabella Rueda stood tall to keep the game scoreless heading into the break.
Southeastern finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute when
Momo Sato netted her 11th goal of the season, capitalizing on crisp assists from
Olivia Hadad and
Sara Irurozki. Florida Memorial refused to back down, mounting a late-half response when Laura Douet found the equalizer in the 81st minute to knot the score at 1-1 and force the match into a sudden-death extra period.
The Fire wasted no time seizing control in overtime, dominating possession and firing off attacking chances before
Rebecca Laface delivered a stunning game-winner in the 96th minute, burying a banger off a brilliant feed from
Danielle Vogel to seal the golden goal victory.
Reflecting on the dramatic finish, head coach
Skelly Kellar shared his pride in the squad: "what a special moment ... Rebe is a special placer. It was a great assist by Dani, really proud of the girls". Match-winner
Rebecca Laface also highlighted the chemistry and collective effort that fueled the win, noting: "I'm glad to have the support of all of my teammates ... When you have that support it's easy to fight on the field."