BETHANY, Okla. — The Harding women's soccer team closed out the regular season Monday afternoon with a 1-0 loss to Southern Nazarene at the Wanda Rhodes Soccer Complex.
Despite the setback, the Lady Bisons (9-5-3, 8-2-2 GAC) clinched the No. 1 seed in the Great American Conference and will host the upcoming GAC Tournament in Searcy. Harding will get an immediate shot at redemption, opening postseason play against the same No. 4-seeded Crimson Storm (7-8-2, 6-5-1 GAC) on Friday at 11 a.m..
Southern Nazarene broke through for the match's lone goal in the 21st minute. After a shot from Adison Johnson was blocked inside the penalty area, Charis Andrews pounced on the rebound and slotted home her first goal of the season at the 20:40 mark.
Harding fought to level the score, outshooting SNU 9-3 in the second half and 14-10 overall. The Lady Bisons generated five shots on target, but Crimson Storm goalkeeper Madaline Bullard kept the clean sheet intact with five saves.
Georgie McMahan led the Lady Bisons' attack with four total shots, while Kendall Jerkins added three. Claire Citty came off the bench to test Bullard twice midway through the second half, recording Harding's final two shots on goal in the 62nd and 65th minutes.
Maysa Willis went the full 90 minutes in goal for Harding, turning aside three shots.
Harding finished with a 4-0 edge in corner kicks during the second half (5-4 SNU overall) and committed just six fouls across the match to the Crimson Storm's eight. Neither squad was whistled for an offside or shown a card.
