Murray State University Athletics
Racer Rewind: Withers, Racers Stay Perfect in Overtime Victory over Trojans
9/30/2020 10:53:00 AM | General, Women's Soccer
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Murray State Athletics will continue its Wednesday Racer Rewind series featuring replays of classic games and moments from throughout its rich history.
The latest edition, set to go live at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, showcases Racer soccer's 4-3 overtime victory over Arkansas-Little Rock from September 8, 2017. The game will be available to view on both the MSU Athletics Facebook page and YouTube channel.
MSU Athletics Facebook
MSU Athletics YouTube
Looking Back at the Match
The Murray State Racers (5-0) only needed a small portion of overtime to get the job done, as Harriet Withers struck a ball from 20 yards out into the top right corner of the net to secure a 4-3 victory over Little Rock (3-3) just 50 seconds into overtime at Cutchin Field in Murray, Ky..Â
"Full credit to Little Rock, like every team in the country, they're not going to just keel over and let us win. I was happy with our character and toughness to come back and win." said then-head coach Jeremy Groves after the victory.
It was the Racers who took an early 1-0 advantage over the Trojans at the 16 minute mark as Aaron Lankster received a pass from Miyah Watford and pinged it off the left post and trickle in for her first goal of the year. 12 minutes went by before another Racer struck the back of the net when Rebecca Kubin scored her second of the year at the 28 minute mark. Watford was once again responsible for the assist, crossing a ball in to Kubin who put it over the shoulder of the keeper to make it a 2-0 in favor of the Racers.
Late into the first half, the Trojans answered, as Doro Greulich scored her first of three goals against the Racers, taking a shot from a tough angle near the goal line, and seeing it bounce off the gloves of Alex Steigerwald to cut the lead to one with four minutes to go.
Fourteen minutes into the second frame, the Racers added another goal to their tally. An errant goal kick off a Trojan defender was enough for Withers to race towards the keeper and tuck a hard shot to the left post, extending the Racer lead to 3-1.
It would then be Greulich once again scoring late for Little Rock, this time receiving the ball from a corner kick and converting it, to make it a one-goal game once again with 13 minutes left in the match. Not wanting to go down without a fight, the Trojans found an equalizer just three minutes later when a free kick at the top of the box taken by Greulich connected off the left post and rolled left to right across the goal line to make it a 3-3 contest.
This was the first time the Racers had to battle in overtime this season, and it was probably the quickest OT period either team has been a part of in a long time. Just 50 seconds in, a beautiful pass from Watford found Withers alone on the left side of the field. Taking the time and space given to her by the Trojans, Withers took a hard shot around 20 yards out, tucking it into the upper part of the net to end the contest and give the Racers their fifth win in a row.
"This team has been built off these hard games, this is how we won the championship last year, we were tough," commented Groves.
With her two goals scored against Little Rock, Withers stood just one goal away from tying the all-time career goal mark of 34 held by 2004 graduate Theresa Reedy. Withers would go on to break the record later on that year when she provided the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Southeast Missouri on September 28th.
At the time, Watford's three assists were tied for the most assists in a single game by a Racer. However, that record has since been broken by Abby Jones, when she tallied four in the Racers' 5-0 victory over SIUE on September 22, 2019.
Steigerwald picked up her fifth win of the year in goal, making six saves in the match.
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Murray State Athletics will continue its Wednesday Racer Rewind series featuring replays of classic games and moments from throughout its rich history.
The latest edition, set to go live at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, showcases Racer soccer's 4-3 overtime victory over Arkansas-Little Rock from September 8, 2017. The game will be available to view on both the MSU Athletics Facebook page and YouTube channel.
MSU Athletics Facebook
MSU Athletics YouTube
Looking Back at the Match
The Murray State Racers (5-0) only needed a small portion of overtime to get the job done, as Harriet Withers struck a ball from 20 yards out into the top right corner of the net to secure a 4-3 victory over Little Rock (3-3) just 50 seconds into overtime at Cutchin Field in Murray, Ky..Â
"Full credit to Little Rock, like every team in the country, they're not going to just keel over and let us win. I was happy with our character and toughness to come back and win." said then-head coach Jeremy Groves after the victory.
It was the Racers who took an early 1-0 advantage over the Trojans at the 16 minute mark as Aaron Lankster received a pass from Miyah Watford and pinged it off the left post and trickle in for her first goal of the year. 12 minutes went by before another Racer struck the back of the net when Rebecca Kubin scored her second of the year at the 28 minute mark. Watford was once again responsible for the assist, crossing a ball in to Kubin who put it over the shoulder of the keeper to make it a 2-0 in favor of the Racers.
Late into the first half, the Trojans answered, as Doro Greulich scored her first of three goals against the Racers, taking a shot from a tough angle near the goal line, and seeing it bounce off the gloves of Alex Steigerwald to cut the lead to one with four minutes to go.
Fourteen minutes into the second frame, the Racers added another goal to their tally. An errant goal kick off a Trojan defender was enough for Withers to race towards the keeper and tuck a hard shot to the left post, extending the Racer lead to 3-1.
It would then be Greulich once again scoring late for Little Rock, this time receiving the ball from a corner kick and converting it, to make it a one-goal game once again with 13 minutes left in the match. Not wanting to go down without a fight, the Trojans found an equalizer just three minutes later when a free kick at the top of the box taken by Greulich connected off the left post and rolled left to right across the goal line to make it a 3-3 contest.
This was the first time the Racers had to battle in overtime this season, and it was probably the quickest OT period either team has been a part of in a long time. Just 50 seconds in, a beautiful pass from Watford found Withers alone on the left side of the field. Taking the time and space given to her by the Trojans, Withers took a hard shot around 20 yards out, tucking it into the upper part of the net to end the contest and give the Racers their fifth win in a row.
"This team has been built off these hard games, this is how we won the championship last year, we were tough," commented Groves.
With her two goals scored against Little Rock, Withers stood just one goal away from tying the all-time career goal mark of 34 held by 2004 graduate Theresa Reedy. Withers would go on to break the record later on that year when she provided the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Southeast Missouri on September 28th.
At the time, Watford's three assists were tied for the most assists in a single game by a Racer. However, that record has since been broken by Abby Jones, when she tallied four in the Racers' 5-0 victory over SIUE on September 22, 2019.
Steigerwald picked up her fifth win of the year in goal, making six saves in the match.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Soccer
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