ORU Soccer Steals Victory In Waning Seconds

Kayla Keller scored with just 17 seconds remaining to give Oral Roberts a 1-0, double overtime win over Sam Houston State Sunday afternoon.

Throughout most of the contest, the Golden Eagles controlled the ball and had many opportunities to put goals on the board, outshooting the visiting conference opponent, 28-8, with 13 shots on goal.

Keller's goal was her fourth of the season, giving her the team lead.

With her second shutout of the weekend, Helen Erb moves into a tie for the most single season shutouts in program history with eight. The sophomore Tulsa native finished with two saves in the match.

Four of SHSU's goalie Kylie Hambleton's saves came on shots off the foot of Jennifer Abernathy, who took a total of seven shots to lead all participants. Keller and Lexie Salas each had a pair of shots on goal, while Ashley Martin, Lauren Parks, Whitney Booth, Megan Giles and Mariah Morgan each added one shot on goal.

Three other players took shots for the Golden Eagles, including Mary-Kate Halsmer with two and Shelbi Lousch and Tatum Lynn had one.

Entering the locker room after the first 45 minutes with 13 more shots than the visitors, 15-2, the Golden Eagles only had one more than the Bearkats four shots in the second stanza. However, the offense picked it up during the extra periods, with six shots in the first overtime and two in the second.

The Golden Eagles improve to 8-4-2 overall and 2-1-0 in Southland Conference play. Entering Sunday, the Bearkats were the second place team in the conference, but with the victory by ORU, the Golden Eagles have moved into a tie for third with Lamar. Each team has six points each with three weekends remaining in the regular season.

Next weekend, the Golden Eagles hit the road for a pair of matches in Louisiana when they visit McNeese State at 7 p.m. on Friday and Nicholls State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.