HOUSTON (November 8, 2019) – Sophomore Kendall Macauly (Toronto, Canada) delivered the match-winning goal to send the Howard University women's soccer team into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Finals after defeating rival Grambling State in double OT, 2-1, in the tourney semifinals.
 
The Toronto native scored at the 109-minute mark, thanks to an assist from SWAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Thalia Boucher (Toronto, Canada).
 
With the win, Howard set a new program benchmark with 14 victories on the season.
 
"We dealt with some adversity today," said Howard women's soccer head coach Brent Leiba after today's win. "We conceded an early goal and [I] credit Grambling State as I thought they set the tone early. After conceding the early goal, our players accepted the challenge and we fought hard and played very well."
 
Only 39 ticks into the contest, Miranda Urbizu put Grambling State ahead early, 1-0.
 
After intermission, the Bison found themselves in a hole until second-year midfielder Victoria Thornton (Plainfield, Ill.) tied the contest on an assist from Boucher; thus, forcing extra periods.
 
After a scoreless first 10 minutes of OT, the match was looming towards a shootout, but Macauly found the back of the net to propel Howard into the SWAC Finals.
 
For GSU, they went 10-11-1 on the year while HU improved to 14-3 overall.
 
"I'm very proud of the team for finding a way to get the win [while] advancing to the conference finals," Leiba explained. "We will need to continue to minimize our mistakes and capitalize on our chances to win the championship."
 
Sunday (Nov. 10), the No. 1 Bison square off against No. 2 Prairie View A&M for the SWAC crown. The action starts noon (ET)/11 a.m. (CT) on the SWAC Digital Network.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.