SEARCY – The Harding women's soccer team wraps up their regular season this weekend as they head to Oklahoma for two Great American Conference games. HU will face No. 19 Southwestern Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m., and Northwestern Oklahoma State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Lady Bisons head into the weekend with a 6-7-2 overall record and a 3-4-1 GAC record.
Harding has already made the GAC Tournament. Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene are not eligible for the 2012 GAC Soccer Regular Season Championship or postseason championship tournament due to their provisional membership status with the league. The games this weekend will determine what ranking the Lady Bisons will have in the Tournament.
The Lady Bisons haven't played a game since Oct. 19th. It will be their first road game since Sept. 28th when HU defeated Ouachita Baptist 2-1.
Harding is led by junior forward Jenna Taylor who has five goals and three assists.
19th-ranked Southwestern Oklahoma State heads into the game with a 15-0-1 record and a 7-0-1 GAC record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 2-2 tie at East Central last Sunday. Before the tie, SWOSU was ranked No. 9. The Bulldogs are led by Samantha Nunez who has eight goals and three assists. Josie Price has six goals and ranks second in NCAA Division II with 12 assists.
The series is tied between the two teams 4-4-0. When the two teams met earlier this season in Searcy, SWOSU defeated HU 4-0. The Bulldogs have won the last three meetings between the two teams.
Northwestern Oklahoma State heads into the weekend with a 0-15-1 overall record and a 0-7-1 GAC record. NWOSU will face Ouachita Baptist on Friday. The Rangers are coming off a 2-0 loss at Southern Nazarene last Sunday. Kaitlyn O'Toole leads NWOSU with two goals and one assist.
When the two teams met for the first time in Searcy, it took overtime for HU to capture the 2-1 victory. Jenna Taylor scored both goals on two penalty kicks. It was the third time in Harding history that the Lady Bisons have taken more than one penalty kick in a game. The last time was in 2002 at Ouachita Baptist. Taylor's penalty kicks were the first time a Harding player has made both penalty kicks.
