Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont women's soccer team (2-8-1, 1-2 OVC) used a spark from a late goal to take a win in overtime on Friday evening at E.S. Rose Park. The Bruins defeated visiting Eastern Illinois (2-9-1, 0-3 OVC), 2-1, with a golden goal in the 93rd minute.
Belmont had the first opportunity to score in the first stanza when freshman Allie Svoboda (Lisle, Ill.) slid into the corner after booting a ball into the left corner of the net. As the team celebrated, the officials waved the goal off with a late offsides call. Undaunted, the Bruins maintained their same level and actively hunted for a goal.
It would be EIU to jump on the scoreboard first. They found the back of the net in the 51st minute behind a corner kick. The Bruins fired back in less than two minutes to knot the score using a corner kick by sophomore Heather Ferrari (Duluth, Ga.) to feed senior Sydney Omweg's (Yorktown, Va.) rebound goal in the box. The teams struggled to emerge from the stalemate for the remainder of regulation.
In the extra period, BU attacked from the whistle, pressuring the ball on both sides. The Bruins continued to dominate the time of possession and saw Ferrari send another ball into dangerous position deep in EIU territory. She found Svoboda who redeemed her earlier effort to give Belmont its first conference win of the season with a 2-1 score.
Belmont led in shots, 13-8, while Eastern Illinois led in corner kicks, 6-4.
Svoboda led BU with three shots, all of them on goal. Sophomore Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) tallied two shots, both on goal.
Junior Stephanie Bukovec (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) finished with four saves.
"This was a total team effort. We had great contributions from everybody today," said Head Coach Heather Henson. "Whenever someone new came on the field, they helped us keep momentum and spark us to play even harder.
"EIU battled the whole game and the ladies responded well. They especially did a great job responding on the called back goal. They did not give up and kept working."
Belmont returns to action on Sunday with a stop at SIUE. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. The matchup can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network. Live stats will also be available.
