KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State scored twice in the final nine minutes to take down Bellarmine 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. Kendall Higgs scored her 13th career goal and Tianna Rivera found the back of the net for the second straight game for the game-winner with less than a minute remaining.
The Owls earned three more points in the ASUN standings and improved to 4-3-1 in the conference, which currently places KSU in fifth place with several more ASUN matches still in play Sunday. The top eight in the standings advance to the ASUN Conference Tournament. KSU's final two games against North Florida and Stetson will be key in the race to the ASUN Tournament, as all three teams are within three points of one another. UNF and Stetson currently sit seventh and eighth in the ASUN standings.
Both defenses had strong showings in the first half as the Owls had five shots and the KSU defense limited the Knights to just three shots, with none on target.
After the match went scoreless over the first 80 minutes, the match turned into a track meet as KSU and Bellarmine traded goals in the 81st and 82nd minutes. In the 81st minute, Aly Bryan set up Higgs and the senior found the bottom right of the net to give the Owls a late 1-0 lead.
Bellarmine quickly responded with an equalizer a minute later when Clara Spurlock scored for the Knights.
With less than a minute remaining in the contest, Stella Allen placed a great through ball to a sprinting Caeden Price down the right side of the defense. Price gathered the ball right before going out of bounds and placed an excellent cross into the box where Rivera was there to convert the game-winning header and her sixth career goal as Kennesaw State earned the 2-1 win over Bellarmine.
Next Match
The Owls travel to North Florida for their final regular season road game Wednesday at 3 p.m.
