BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene (3-3-0, 3-3-0 GAC) capped of their Spring 2021 regular season with a nail-biting battle with Harding University (1-4-1, 1-4-1 GAC) on Saturday afternoon at Wes Harmon Field inside the Wanda Rhodes Soccer Complex.
On senior day, the Bisons rolled into Bethany looking for their first win of the season and after two extra periods of play, HU was able to come away with a 2-1 victory to spoil SNU's day.
One senior,
Raul Iglesias, was honored today after as he was recognized for his three-year tenure with the Storm. Iglesias made his first start of his career today against the Bisons.
The physical match presented 29 total fouls and four yellow cards, all given to Harding, as both clubs competed for over 109 minutes. HU held a slight 16-15 shot and 7-5 shot-on-goal advantage over the Storm.
SNU managed eight corner kick attempts, their highest of the season, while the Bisons had four.
Harding got on the board first with a score in the 26
th minute of the match as the tally would stay 1-0 going into the break. The second half opened up the same as much of the game had gone, neck-and-neck. It wasn't until the 84
th minute that the Storm scored as
Juan Rodarte netted his fourth goal of the season, assisted by
Esteban Ramirez, to breathe life into Southern Nazarene.
Extra periods were needed for a winner to be decided as the score sat the same until the dwindling seconds of the second overtime period. With only six seconds left, the Bisons delivered a heartbreaker to prevail 2-1 on Saturday.
Juan Rodarte led the Storm with his one goal and three total shots.
Nathaniel Mederos and
Angel Lopez each tallied a couple shots apiece while Lopez managed one on target. Other notables were
Orlando Castro and
Federico Anzoletti who each finished with a shot a piece.
In goal, Bence Moscari got his first start of the season as he tallied four saves after facing 16 total shots.
Southern Nazarene will prepare for post season play as the will travel to Claremore next weekend to take on No. 8 Rogers State (4-0-1, 4-0-1 GAC) in the first round of the Great American Conference Championships. The Hillcats edged the Storm 1-0 in overtime earlier this season in Bethany.