For the second consecutive year, the Lindenwood women’s soccer team (10-4-5, 5-2-2 OVC) will be playing for an Ohio Valley Conference Championship after defeating the Little Rock Trojans (7-4-6, 5-0-4 OVC) 2-1 in overtime.
The win extends LU’s unbeaten streak to seven matches and advances them to the OVC Tournament Final for the second consecutive season and keep their dreams of winning back-to-back OVC Championships alive and a dream of being the first Lindenwood athletics program to qualify to an NCAA tournament.
The hero was blossoming Lindenwood legend, sophomore Mackenzie Compton, who scored in the 93rd minute of action streaking past the Little Rock defense and smashing the game winner past the diving arms of OVC Goalkeeper of the year, Peyton Urban, sending Lindenwood to face Tennessee Tech in the championship while sending the Trojans home to Little Rock, defeated.
The goal was Compton’s second of the OVC tournament after having one in Lindenwood’s quarterfinal win over SIUE. Compton came into the tournament with only two goals scored all season and has now doubled that in as many games. Last year in the 2024 OVC tournament, Compton was named MVP of the tournament after having three goals and an assist in three games.
It was Little Rock who struck first in the match, however, as in the twelfth minute of action, Amaya Arias got her head on the ball off a corner and snuck it past Caroline Ritter, putting the Trojans up 1-0 in the match.
It was a quiet rest of the first half as Lindenwood outshot Little Rock 9-4 with three shots on goal, but Urban made some huge saves, including a diving save off a header from Allison Shrumpf off a corner.
Lindenwood started the second half off with a bang as 40 seconds into the second, Kylie Peel threaded a beautiful ball into the box that found the feet of Anna Johson, who buried a shot into the back of the net, tying the match at 1-1.
Little Rock had a golden opportunity to regain the lead in the 62nd minute as forward of the year, Maria Schuller, got behind the Lindenwood defense and had a one-on-one with Ritter, but the sophomore goalkeeper was up to the challenge and got a leg on Schuller’s shot, turning away the chance for perhaps the biggest save of the season.
The contest took another turn in the 79th minute when Arias picked up her second yellow card and was sent off, forcing the Trojans to play with 10 for the remainder of the match. However, the Lions weren’t able to capitalize, and the game headed to overtime with the teams tied at 1-1.
Then, just three minutes into the first overtime period, it was Compton, the homegrown native from Wentzville, who used her blazing speed to get behind the Trojan back line and won the battle against the OVC goalkeeper of the year, and netted home the game winner and sent Lindenwood dancing into the Championship game.
Lindenwood plays Tennessee Tech on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m., with a chance to claim back-to-back OVC Championships and qualify for their first-ever NCAA tournament. The match will be streaming exclusively on ESPN+.
