Courtesy of Grand Valley State athletic communications
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A golden-goal in double overtime from Kennedy Bearden clinched the seventh NCAA National Championship for Grand Valley State women's soccer Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Saint Rose Golden Knights Saturday (Dec. 11) at Switchbacks FC Stadium. The Lakers finish the season 24-1-2 as National Champions for the second consecutive season.
It was a dream start for the Lakers as Kennedy Bearden drilled a banger into the top shelf within the first five minutes for the second straight game. The Lakers would carry that lead into half in a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams with double-digit shots and three corner kicks in the first half. Kendall Robertson made three of her four saves in the first half to keep the Golden Knights off the score sheet.
Saint Rose would equalize around the hour mark. A foul deep in the Lakers defensive third set up a good insert on the set piece and, despite a couple deflections by the Lakers, the ball squibbed into the net to tie things up.
Grand Valley State regained the lead in the 73' when a corner kick set up a scramble in front of goal and the ball fell to Cecilia Steinwascher's feet. She was able to chip the keeper into the far side netting and put the Lakers back in front. That lead was short-lived as just five minutes later Saint Rose capitalized on their own corner to level the match once again. The Lakers had a flurry of chances at the end of the second half, but time ran out to send the championship match into golden-goal overtime.
Again, the Lakers applied plenty of pressure in the first overtime, including a chance that had to go to VAR to determine if it crossed the line, but the ref determined it did not fully clear the line. But the second overtime saw the game winner as Caitie Baron carried possession to the end line and angled the ball back to Bearden to book-end the game and trigger the celebration.
