Women's Soccer | 9/24/2009 7:18:21 PM

Box Score [Box score]

*Please note correction from previous story: Kelsey Harms not Rachelle Kliewer assisted on the Western Oregon goal.*

MONMOUTH, Ore. - In their fifth overtime match of the season, and third in the last four matches, the Western Oregon women's soccer team was bested by conference foe Montana State Billings 2-1 in double overtime Thursday, September 24, on the WOU Soccer Field.

With the loss, the Wolves drop to 1-6-3 (0-3-0), while the Yellowjackets improves to 5-3-1 (2-1-0).

The Wolves broke their two-game scoreless drought when forward Marina Austin headed the ball in off of a pass from Kelsey Harms in the 54th minute. This marks Austin's first goal of the season, and Harms' first assist.

“She (Harms) got under it and was able to bend it back, and Marina (Austin) got just enough of it,” WOU head coach Rod Fretz explained. “She (Austin) was disciplined enough to stay in front of the goal and got just enough of a piece of it that it ricocheted in.”

MSUB answered with a goal of its own in the 56th minute when Jennifer Larsen scored, tying the score at 1-1. Both squads could not find the goal again until Billings forward Kari Foreman put one in in the 102nd minute, resulting in the final score of 2-1.

In her second complete game of the season, WOU goalkeeper Brittney Rigtrup made seven saves, many of which were diving saves, as well as tough catches and punch saves.

“I thought she played tremendous,” Fretz said. “She comes ready to play everyday, but I thought she played particularly well today.”

Thursday's match saw a combined 28 shots, 18 of which were on goal. The Wolves' Kym Witmer attempted four shots, and three other Western Oregon players chipped in two shots apiece.

Western Oregon returns to action Saturday, September 26, as they play host to another conference match, this time against Northwest Nazarene. The match is schedule for 1:00 pm on the WOU Soccer Field.