SENATOBIA – After scoring the tying goal with over 20 minutes remaining to force overtime, Itawamba added the golden goal less than a minute into overtime in a 2-1 loss for the Northwest Lady Rangers on Tuesday afternoon.
Northwest dropped to 1-5 on the season and 1-2 in the MACJC North as Itawamba improved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the division.
Similar to recent years, the most recent Northwest-Itawamba matchup was nothing short of a thriller yet again. With neither team able to find the net in the early minutes, sophomore striker
Cheyenne Smith made her season debut in style, returning from injury to put the Lady Rangers on the board with a booming kick from 25 yards out in the 19th minute.
Smith's goal would provide some of the only offensive sparks for the Lady Rangers however, as Northwest was held to just four first half shots. On the other hand, Itawamba took 16 shots in the first half and added 10 more in the second, highlighted by Emily Hayward's tying goal in the 72nd minute to eventually force overtime.
Less than a minute into the extra period, Grace Joyce provided the game-winner for the Lady Indians off an assist from Brittany Mathis, dealing the third one-goal loss of the season for Northwest.
Northwest was outshot 27-5 overall and 10-1 in the second half. The Lady Indians also finished with a 20-3 shot on-goal advantage.
Freshman goalkeeper
Maggie Olive finished with a new career-high of 18 saves, her second double-digit save effort of the season.
Northwest will seek to snap a three-game losing skid on Friday, September 13 at East Central. Kickoff from Decatur is slated for 1 p.m. with live stats available through nwccrangers.com.
