ALVA, Okla. – It was a beautiful morning at the Alva Rec Complex as Northwestern Oklahoma State women's soccer took on the Harding Bisons in the teams last home game of the season. The Lady Rangers put up a fight but dropped the contest 2-0 to the third place Bisons.
Harding took a 1-0 lead 28 minutes into the game when a flurry of shots in front of Northwestern netminder Kiara Fontanilla led to a defensive breakdown. After Bisons forward Amelia Grizzell forced Fontanilla to make a diving save, she broke past a defender and collected her own rebound to score from four feet out.
The Rangers narrowly missed a scoring chance moments later when a rebound off a Makayla Barrientos shot bounced straight to Priscilla Villalobos. On a contested look, the junior missed just above the crossbar allowing Harding to escape the first half with the lead.
In a physical second half, Harding racked up 11 fouls and three yellow cards. But the costliest foul of the game was called against the home team inside the box. Bethany Sutherland capitalized on her penalty kick and the Bisons went ahead 2-0 in the 48th minute.
Kailani Kealoha almost got the Rangers on the board with a header in the second half but her attempt went high.
Northwestern continued to pressure the Bisons down the stretch, but Harding would hold on to take a 2-0 win.
It was a festive affair prior to the match as Northwestern honored seven seniors for their hard work and dedication to the women's soccer program. The Ranger faithful say goodbye to Megan Maharry, Karla Lopez, Audrey Salas, Clarissa Hinojo, Kaley Whitworth, Haleigh Brown and Calvonis Prentice, who all took the field in Alva for the last time.
Despite playing its last game at home, Northwestern will still have three matches on the road to wrap up the 2018 campaign. The Rangers will face three in-state opponents starting with a trip to East Central for a makeup game Monday, October 22 before matches against Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.
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