ORANGEBURG, SC – Ashley Herndon’s first career game-winning goal propelled the Winthrop women’s soccer team to a 2-1 double-overtime victory over the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

The Lady Eagles improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-2 overall. The contest was also the first on the road this season for Winthrop.

The game-winner by Herndon, also the second goal of her career, came from 45-yards out just as time was winding down in the final overtime period. Herndon’s golden goal gave the Lady Eagles their first win at South Carolina State since a 3-0 victory during the 2008 season, and improved their all-time record over the Bulldogs to 9-2.

Devin Puckett put Winthrop ahead 1-0 in the 38^th minute with her second goal of the season as Tori Davis dished out her first assist of the 2012 campaign. That was the lone goal of the opening half as the Lady Eagles were outshot 7-5 by South Carolina State, but goalkeeper Amelia Henderson kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard with her three saves. She would finish the contest with five saves to earn the first win of her career. The assist by Davis was also the third of her career.

South Carolina State tied the contest at 1-1 in the 73^rd minute on Brooke Contreras’ third goal of the season with the assist coming from Blanca Barrio. That would be all the scoring that both teams could tally during regulation as the Bulldogs held a 10-5 advantage in shots, but the Lady Eagles offense would put the pressure on in the extra periods by attempting a total of seven shots to South Carolina State’s one.

The Bulldogs led 18-17 in shots, but Winthrop held the advantage in shots on-goal 9-6. South Carolina State also attempted six corner kicks on the afternoon, while the Lady Eagles took five.

Krystyna Freda led Winthrop in shots for the second straight contest with four, and Barrio took a team-high five for the Bulldogs. Mariah Hebbe grabbed four saves during her 65 minutes in net for South Carolina State, while Danielle Murphy allowed both Lady Eagle goals and had three saves.

Winthrop will be back in action on Monday, Sept. 3 as it travels to Clemson, SC to face the Clemson Tigers at Historic Riggs Field. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m., and will be the first all-time meeting between the two teams.

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