LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the No. 18 Bellarmine University women's soccer team, a record-tying victory came as a result of a record-tying goal.

It was even more dramatic than it sounds, as junior forward Mary Beth Gorham sank a "golden goal" in the second overtime of the top-seeded Knights' tense 2-1 victory Sunday over No. 8 seed McKendree in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

Bellarmine advances to host fourth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis — a 2-1 overtime winner over fifth-seeded Drury — on Friday. BU will host the remainder of the GLVC Tournament.

With the win over McKendree (8-8-3), Bellarmine tied a program record set in 2011 with its 16th overall victory this season, and the Knights (16-1-2) did it behind a spectacular score from Gorham, who tied her own single-season record (2013) and that of Jaime Halas (2005) with her 12th goal of the season.

"I'm kind of speechless on that goal," BU Coach Chris Tinius said afterward. "That was an absolutely brilliant strike from MB."



It occurred in the 107th minute, with a shootout looming. From the left side, Gorham tumbled to the ground after being fouled hard by a McKendree defender. On the free kick, from approximately 27 yards out, Gorham set up alongside senior defender Jordan Major.

Gorham tapped the ball to Major, who immediately used the back of her foot to relay it back to Gorham. By that time, the two-time All-Midwest Region selection was already in motion to unleash a shot. Her strike was true, as she rifled an attempt that landed in the upper right corner of the net. In doing so, Gorham broke her own single-season record for points (29 in 2013) after registering her 30th behind 12 goals and six assists, with one of those helpers coming Sunday.

Major, who collected her first assist, scored on a deep free kick against Missouri S&T way back on Sept. 20 when the Miners' goalkeeper misread the hop as the ball bounded over her and into the goal. But Sunday's score was all about precise execution.

"We've been waiting 19 games for one like that," Tinius said. "Corners and set pieces have not been something we've capitalized on, but that one was worth the wait."

McKendree tied the game at 1-1 with a little over 10 minutes remaining in regulation when Sydnee Carroll sank a difficult shot from approximately 30 yards out. While Bellarmine allowed few — if any — prime scoring chances, the Bearcats consistently kept up the pressure and were rewarded for it.

Meanwhile, the Knights couldn't convert two separate one-on-one opportunities with Bearcats keeper Taylor Zerbe, which would have given them some breathing room before the deadlock.

"They are a hard-nosed, blue-collar team and they make you work," Tinius said of McKendree. "For all the skill and soccer talent we have, that's something we struggle with at times. We had a couple chances to get another goal, and then once we didn't capitalize on those I think we felt sorry for ourselves for a couple minutes. Before you know it, they were all over us. That's a credit to them — it's a strength of their team and they made it a strength today, taking us to the end.

"Physically," Tinius added, "we were losing too many balls and, at some point, when they win that many balls in the midfield, it just takes a misstep or wrong decision in letting a ball bounce a second time. It was a great finish from them. Those are the opportunities that people will eventually capitalize on if you're not winning enough balls down the middle of the field."

Bellarmine owned a 15-11 advantage in shots, including 5-3 on goal. One other BU attempt was successful, as Gorham tracked down a ball near the end line and crossed to senior forward Darcy Egan for an easy tap-in in the 16th minute.

"The first goal was just a gritty effort by Mary Beth to keep it inbounds, and Darcy was in the right spot like she's done multiple times in the last few weeks," Tinius said. "We've said we've needed to score more 'ugly' goals and not just the 'pretty' goals. We got one like that with Mary Beth fighting for it, and one with the set piece. We're still kind of finding new ways, and that's one way we haven't won this year."

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