Ada, Okla. – The Harding women's soccer team captured its first Great American Conference Regular Season Championship on Saturday with a 4-1 win over East Central on Saturday.  The Lady Bisons end the regular season with 31 conference points; one more point than second place Ouachita.

RECORDS

Harding improves to 13-3-2 overall and 10-1-1 in the GAC. East Central falls to 4-13 overall and 3-8 in the GAC.

GOALS

Harding 1, East Central 0 – 17th minute – Audrey Adkison took a corner kick that the goalkeeper couldn't control which allowed Mika Richards to find the back of the net.

Harding 2, East Central 0 – 20th minute – Carley Stevens found Bethany Sutherland off a cross.

Harding 3, East Central 0 – 31st minute – Bethany Sutherland hit a cross in that the goalkeeper couldn't hand which allowed Rachel Bacon to clean up.

Harding 4, East Central 0 – 57th minute – Morgan Springborn took a shot that went off the cross bar that fell to Carley Stevens for the goal.

Harding 4, East Central 1 – 81st minute – Kelsey Pickrell converted a penalty kick.

TEAM STATS

Harding will host the GAC Tournament held Nov. 5 and 7. The Lady Bisons will be the No. 1 seed and will play No. 4 seed Southern Nazarene in the second game of the doubleheader on Thursday at 6 p.m. Harding has advanced to play in the GAC Tournament every season since the conference was formed in 2011. This will be the first time the Lady Bisons have been the No. 1 seed in a conference tournament.

It is Harding's second conference championship in school history. The Lady Bisons tied with West Florida in 2004 for the regular season Gulf South Conference Championship.

Harding took 37 shots in the game and 15 were on goal

East Central took 13 shots and five were on goal.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Bethany Sutherland scored her 20th goal of the season.  Sutherland broke the Harding school record of 17 goals against Southwestern Oklahoma last Saturday.  She now holds the GAC single season goal mark previously held by Ouachita Tiger Haley Hatcher who had 19 in 2013.

It was Rachel Bacon's sixth goal of the season, Carley Steven's seventh goal and Mika Richard's third goal.

Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Miller captured the win between the posts for Harding with a 13-3-2 record. She now is the winningest Harding goalkeeper in school history. She was tied with Chelsea Hornbeck (2006-08,10) with 26 wins.

Seniors Larkin Hatcher, Audrey Adkison and Melissa Minnich tied the Harding record for the most games played in a career with 73. They join Lynsey Clissold (2004-07) and Katie Rankin (2004-07).

 Audrey Adkison started her 73rd game on Saturday to break the Harding record for the most games started in a career. She broke Kendyl Washburn's (2004-07) record who started 72 games.

QUOTE

Harding Head Coach Dr. Greg Harris: "The ladies came out and took care of business early. They played with great enthusiasm and passion. I'm proud of their consistency and improvement throughout the season."

UP NEXT

Harding will play its first game in the GAC Tournament on Thursday. The Lady Bisons will play Southern Nazarene at 6 p.m., in the second game of the doubleheader on Thursday.