Simmons 2OT Goal Sends UMKC to tournament

October 28, 2011

(Kansas City, Mo.) – Thursday night on the road, the UMKC women’s soccer team beat the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in double overtime, 2-1, in thrilling fashion.

With this win, the ‘Roos (8-6-4, 6-1-1 SL) punched a ticket to the Summit League Tournament for the first time in team history. As for ORU (6-10-2, 3-4-1 SL), their tournament chances were all but diminished with this loss. Currently, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (6-10-1, 4-2-1 SL) sit in fourth place ahead of ORU with two games remaining.

The ‘Roos got off to a quick start during the fourth minute of the first half when sophomore forward Taylor Bare connected for her team-leading eighth goal of the season. Freshman forward Cecilee Burdge was credited with the assist, her first on the year.

With that score, Bare is now tied for the league leader in goals scored behind ORU’s Maria Grados, who only registered one shot-on-goal in Thursday’s night contest. Coming in, Bare was held scoreless in her last three games.

As the first half continued, UMKC maintained the 1-0 lead over the Golden Eagles going into halftime.

In the second half, during the 66^th minute, ORU’s Whitney Brannon scored on an unassisted goal to tie the game. Neither team scored again as the match went into overtime. For the ‘Roos, they held a 2-1-4 record in overtime games while the Golden Eagles were 1-1-1.

In the first overtime, the score remained tied as a second overtime was needed to decide the game.

During the 105^th minute, junior midfielder Randi Simmons scored for the second time this season to give UMKC the victory.

Coming up, the Kangaroos will close out their 2011 regular season campaign at Southern Utah (3-11-3, 0-7, SL) on Saturday at 1:00 P.M.