The Lady Cougars (6-5-1, 4-3 AMC), who were coming off tough back-to-back double overtime losses over the weekend to Houghton (N.Y.) College and Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College, also went into the match at Shawnee State without leading scorer junior midfielder Jessica Estep, sophomore forward Courtney Ricker, sophomore midfielder Sarah Buehler, and freshman defender Stacy Culbertson as they were all sidelined with injuries.

Neither team was able to get much going in the way of an offensive attack in the first half on the muddy field that was especially treacherous in the midfield. Then, in the second half, MVNU finally began to put more pressure on the host Lady Bears (7-4, 4-3 AMC), who had won five straight matches entering Wednesday’s contest. However, once again, neither team was able to score and the Lady Cougars also lost senior forward Nikki Bruscino to an injury early in the second half.

The scoreless match headed to overtime, which for MVNU set a new school record as the Lady Cougars played their fifth overtime match of the season to break the previous mark of four set in 2006. MVNU kept the pressure on Shawnee State right from the start of the 10-minute extra session. Freshman midfielder Haley Sparks sent a pass to Linger, who shielded the ball from her defender and then turned for a breakaway opportunity with Sam Rolsen, the Lady Bears’ goalie. Linger found the back of the net for her third goal of the season to end the match and give the Lady Cougars the victory. Each of her three goals on the season have been game-winners with two of them coming in 1-0 overtime victories as she has now twice scored the golden goal for her team to end overtime matches.

MVNU finished with a 17-5 advantage in total shots and a 6-2 edge in shots on goal. The Lady Cougars also led 4-2 in corner kicks. Junior goalie Jenessa Loewen posted two saves for MVNU, while Rolsen stopped five shots for Shawnee State.

“I was very pleased with the effort put forth by our team today,” said MVNU coach Daniel Seiffert. “With all the injuries and the miserable field conditions, everyone who could play really stepped up and contributed to this win. The girls showed a lot character and grit to battle through yet another overtime and to have the determination to find a way to come out on top this time.”

“Our back line was very solid and did a fantastic job of keeping the shutout intact,” Seiffert added. “Kelci (Rhodes), Angie (Misamore), and Denče (Stentz) did a great job along with Jenessa to limit their scoring opportunities. I just cannot say enough about the whole team and the way that they persevered in sloppy conditions. Hopefully, we will be able to get some of our injured players healed up by our next match which will be a big one at Notre Dame.”

The Lady Cougars will have nearly a week to prepare for their next match - a showdown with Notre Dame College on the Lady Falcons’ home field - next Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.