BETHANY, Okla.— Southern Nazarene clinched its first GAC regular-season championship and the number one seed in the GAC tournament in a 1-0 overtime victory over Harding.
 
The Crimson Storm (10-8, 8-2 GAC) dominated possession for most of the first half as they attempted 18 shots with eight being on goal. The Bison (6-11-1, 6-3-1 GAC) did not attempt a shot in the first half.
 
Southern Nazarene continued to possess the ball for a large part of the second half. SNU's defense finally allowed Harding to attempt a shot in the 58^th minute when Melissa Minnich's shot was saved by Natasha Fuentes. The Crimson Storm attempted 11 shots in the second half with three being on goal, but were unable to score. SNU had a great chance to score in the 86^th minute, but Mallary Pineda's shot was blocked and Hannah Robinson's shot was saved by Kaitlyn Miller.
 
"Going into overtime usually makes me very nervous, but the girls were playing with confidence," said Head Coach Julie Duncan, "They felt very confident before the OT and I think everyone was relaxed and knew we were going to score.   Grace had been close a couple times on corners, so it was the perfect set up.  Sheridan played a nice ball right to Grace who redirected to the far post away from the keepers' hands who had had an amazing day in goal."
 
The Crimson Storm continued to control the ball in overtime as they did not allow the Bison to attempt a shot. Grace Self scored the golden goal in the 92^nd minute as she received Sheridan Williams' corner kick and put it past the keeper.
 
Southern Nazarene attempted 31 shots with 12 on goal. Harding attempted four shots with two on goal.
 
HU's Miller recorded 11 saves and SNU's Fuentes had two saves.
 
Fuentes has six shutouts on the season, which is tenth best in a single season in school history. Self now has a career-high four goals on the season.
 
Southern Nazarene will host the GAC Tournament as they are the number one seed. The first round of games will be Friday Nov. 7 and the championship game will be Sunday Nov. 9. Starting times for all games will be announced next week.
 
"I was thrilled that we could get a win for the seniors on their day and in that fashion," said Duncan, "The game was a 0-0 tie going into overtime that had to be played, whoever won hosted and then to score on a corner kick, which we never do, was to me a perfect set up for the seniors. They are such a deserving group of young ladies and the girls played hard for them to ensure the win."

"All 3 seniors have been a huge part of this program over the past 4 years, but this year each one stepped it up another notch," said Duncan, "Bre has been the anchor of our defense.  She has played solidly all year and with little recognition.  She leads by example, comes everyday ready to work hard.  She is not afraid to go in hard on a tackle and reads the play clearly, stopping some of the best attackers in our conference. Bekah is the key to our midfield. She is the play maker for us.  She supports the defense and is instrumental in moving the ball from the defense to the offense.  She tends to be everywhere on the field, even in extreme exhaustion she digs down deep and keeps playing. Mallary is our leading goal scorer and assist leader.  She is so quick up top that defenses have a hard time keeping up with her.  She has proven to be unselfish and knows when to give the ball up to a teammate in a better position to score. All 3 seniors have been vital to this team that they have become irreplaceable to some degree."