TIFFIN, Ohio - Tiffin women's soccer tallied two late goals to force overtime against Lewis University on Sunday afternoon, but the Flyers notched the golden goal in the first extra period to defeat the Dragons 4-3.
Lewis got on the board early, as Allie Mikos tallied less than two minutes into the contest. Karlie Cummins doubled the Flyers lead in the 18th minute, but Tiffin was able to quickly cut the deficit in half.
Off a corner, Claudia Santillan found Sierra Besecker in the midst of multiple defenders in the box. Besecker was able to redirect the ball across the goal line just before a Flyer defender could clear it, scoring Tiffin's first goal of the season.
The score held at 2-1 into the second period, but it was Lewis that extended their lead to two as Mirandi Nirchi tallied in the 69th minute.
Ten minutes later, the Dragons put some pressure on the Flyers' defense and forced a corner from the near side. Besecker stepped out to take it and fired a low liner towards the near post, where Lauryn Grcic executed a beautiful header and launched the ball into the upper left corner to bring Tiffin within one.
With time running out, TU had to find the equalizer. Santillan got control of the ball in the near corner, sidestepped a defender, and passed to Leila Hannaoui above the box. Hannaoui took two touches and fired a rocket into the upper right corner, completing the Dragon comeback and sending Tiffin and Lewis to overtime tied at three.
The Flyers' Kailey Parnello quickly put an end to the match, however, scoring just 30 seconds into the first overtime to give Lewis the 4-3 win.
Tiffin's Nahomi Lopez performed admirably in goal, turning away a dozen Flyer attempts. After earning just one corner in the first half, the Dragons put much more pressure on in the second, gaining seven corners to Lewis' five.
The Dragons have one more contest at Paradiso as part of their three-game, season-opening homestand when they host Ashland on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
