WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team began its Sunshine State Conference season on Wednesday night. The Eagles (3-2) faced the No. 21 Rollins Tars (3-1) on their turf under rainy conditions. Both teams scored first half goals and the game remained knotted at 1-1 following the end of regulation. With four minutes remaining in double overtime the Tars found the back of the net to win, 2-1.
 
"Congratulations goes to Alicia and the Rollins group for finding a way to win tonight," said Head Coach Samantha Bohon. "They kept fighting and got the result.  It's always a slippery slope when you go up a player as it can often motivate the smaller group, especially in a golden goal situation.  I actually thought we responded pretty well and created chances to put the game away.  It's the second game in a row where I felt we didn't capitalize on several good chances.  We know that in this conference, a team will get punished for not finishing and that's exactly what happened tonight.  We're missing that killer instinct in front of the goal to take half chances and to get on the end of some good crosses.  It's a pretty disappointing result for us and we need to do more if we want to have success this season against good teams."
 
Early in the match, the Eagles were able to attack on the outside lines and had many chances as crosses bounced dangerously around the box. The Eagles dominated much of the possession during the beginning of the first half and were defensively able to come out with many takeaways.
 
In the 24^th minute, the Tars took advantage of a little bit of bad luck for the Eagles to score.  Helena Hansson cleared a cross into teammate Guro Naess Berge.  The ball  ended up at Emily Bloom's feet and she sent it into the upper right hand corner of the net.  

 For the Eagles, after several dangerous runs, one finally paid off.  Andrea Froshaug brought the Blue and Gold level in the 40^th minute. Khyla Brangman sent a piercing pass up the center of the field and Froshaug was able to beat the defense and dribble around the goalkeeper to score.
 
In the second half, the Eagles came out firing. Just minutes into the period, Froshaug beat her defender down the line and passed to Brangman. She cleverly slotted the ball to the feet of Tiffany Larsen. Larsen's shot hit the bottom side of the crossbar and fell straight down on the line. It was a near miss for the Eagles as the assistant referee signaled the entire ball didn't cross the line.
 
The half featured several other dangerous attacks and two key saves from Olivia Lynch and her defensive line, including one play in which Lynch and Helena Hansson teamed up to send a Rollins shot over the top of the net. In the 57^th minute, Lynch made another big save to keep the score level. She made a total of nine saves in the game.
 
With less than four minutes remaining in the game, Froshaug was tackled by the Rollins goalkeeper, Mary Spring. Spring was given a red card for the dangerous play and the Eagles were awarded a free kick just outside the box. The ensuing free kick was heading into the side netting until backup goalie, Carly Stevens, made a diving save to send the game into overtime.
 
In the first overtime period, the Eagles had the majority of possession and several shots, but the Tars backline and goalkeeper did well to keep the game knotted at 1-1 and forced a second overtime.  After a throw-in deep in the Tars territory, Embry-Riddle pushed numbers forward looking for the golden goal.  Emma Bloom capitalized on the space and made a run behind the Eagle backline, narrowly staying onside.  After taking a touch, Bloom placed her shot with pace into the far corner of the net despite Lynch getting a hand on it. 
 
This was the first game of the 2015 season that went into overtime for the Eagles. 
 
There will be little time for rest as the No. 1 team in the nation, Barry, is up next for Embry-Riddle.  The Eagles will face the Buccaneers, coached by former Embry-Riddle player Denise Brolly, at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.