ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Oct. 4) – A heartbreaking goal with just two seconds left in the first overtime period gave the Central Washington University women's soccer team (1-6-3, 1-3-1) a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Northwest Nazarene University (6-4-1, 2-4-0).
 
The Wildcats dominated in nearly every statistical category, except goals.  The match sat at 0-0 for 98:58 before Ashley Parton took a pass from Kaisa Tsuruta on a breakaway and buried the winning goal.
 
Central outshot the Nighthawks 18-7, including a 10-3 margin in shots on goal. 
 
"Great day for us to work the kinks out of our game and get back on track," CWU Head Coach Michael Farrand said.  "First half was a bit slow, but I thought the girls did a good job in the second half playing with better pace.  We had a couple goals called back again.  Tremendous performance in goal from Emily [Thompson], on the backline by Alyssa [Barden], and in the midfield from KK [Wallace].  We are there, but it's painful we aren't getting the result we wanted today.  Especially when we played as well as we did."
 
Lexsi Manning fired the Wildcats' first shot of the game on goal, forcing Chloe Sholtz to make her first save of the day.  Sholtz ended with 10 saves.
 
The Wildcats unleashed a cannonade of shots at the Nighthawks' goal in the first half.  Kennedy Anson and KK Wallace both had shots turned aside by Sholtz, while Olivia Sloan, Paige Devine, and Olivia Olason missed their mark by margins.
 
At the half, Central led 9-3 in shots.  The possession and attacking dominance continued in the second half for the Wildcats. 
 
Madison Bradley let loose a shot in the 47^th minute, but again Sholtz made the stop.  On the counter attack, Emily Thomson turned away a shot from Magda Wronski before stymying a shot from Rikki Myers just minutes later.
 
Bradley got another chance in the 51^st, but Sholtz came to her defense's rescue once more. 
 
Sydney Lowe blasted a left-footed shot in the 58^th minute, curling the shot toward the far post, but a diving Sholtz kept the score at 0-0.
 
Manning then curled a corner inward toward goal, forcing Sholtz to make the stop, in the 73^rd  minute.
 
The Wildcats forced three consecutive corner kicks in the 84^th and 85^th minutes, but could not find the go-ahead marker.
 
Lowe fired home a shot in the final minutes, but Sholtz held it to keep the score at 0-0 and force extra time.
 
Wallace fired the Wildcats' first shot in overtime, but it was turned aside by Sholtz. 
 
With under 30 seconds to play in the first overtime frame, the Wildcats had a chance to score.  Devine fired a shot goalward, but it was kept out by Sholtz and the Nighthawks went on the offensive.
 
Tsuruta found Parton open near the middle of the pitch on a breakaway.  Parton buried her shot in the back of the net, claiming the golden goal winner 1-0.
 
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Oct. 6) at 7:00 p.m. in Tomlinson Stadium for a GNAC match against No. 18 Western Washington.