Butler upends defending national champion Tyler in 2OT
A header by Abby Ponce' lifted the Butler women's soccer team to a 3-2 win in double overtime over defending national champion Tyler (Texas) on Sunday at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex.
The loss is the first for Tyler since the 2010 national championship game and is the first regular-season defeat for the Apaches since a 2-1 loss to Navarro in October 2008. Tyler won national championships in 2009 and 2011. The Apaches are currently ranked No. 1 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and No. 2 in the most recent National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) poll.
The Grizzlies (No. 3 NSCAA and No. 9 NJCAA), scored first on an unassisted goal by Lamya Scott in the 15th minute. Tyler would get a goal from Jaquelyn Olle in the 21st minute that would make it a tie game at the half.
Tricia Gould-Joe scored Tyler's second goal, which came just after halftime in the 52nd minute, giving Tyler a 2-1 advantage.
Scott, a freshman from Wichita Heights High School, scored again for the Grizzlies to tie the game in the 60th minute and neither team would score again for the remainder of the regulation. Tyler had two chances to score, but Butler goalkeeper Aisling Dyer made critical saves in the 83rd and 88th minutes to preserve the tie.
Early in the first overtime, Butler committed a foul inside the 18-yard box, giving Tyler a penalty kick. The attempt by Alice Coyne went wide to the left and the game continued.
In the second overtime period, a Tyler foul gave the Grizzlies a free kick from about 30 yards out in the game's 105th minute. Freshman defender Darci Nightengale served the ball into the air and Abby Ponce' tapped it just inside the left post for the game-winning goal.
Butler is now 4-2 on the season. The Grizzlies have gone 2-2 against teams ranked in the top five of one of the two major national polls so far, with wins over Laramie County (Wyo.) and Tyler and overtime losses to Iowa Western and Brevard (Fla.).