The women’s soccer team beat the Lipscomb Bisons in the 78th minute with a 3-2 final score during its ASUN match Sept. 26. 

The Bears managed to come back late in the game after a draw when senior midfielder Kelly Van Gundy scored the winning goal. 

Coach Jeremy Bishop said, “Lipscomb is a very good team and has been at the top or close to the top of ASUN forever, and I’m guessing that it has been a long time since they were beaten at home. So we are excited. Feels great to win and even more so on the road against a great program.”

In the 3rd minute, Lipscomb senior midfielder Kiara Pralle kicked the ball into the net. Minutes later, Pralle tallied another goal for the Bisons. 

The Bears acted fast and at the end of the 6th minute, they scored their first goal with a corner kick from junior midfielder Briana Lopez, which was pushed into the net by freshman forward Sophia Backstrom. 

Lipscomb continued to make efforts to score but was unsuccessful due to senior goalkeeper Kajsa Pruner. 

In the 28th minute, Anna Kerr secured a point for the Bears after a shot from 25 yards. 

Backstrom and Kerr’s goals kept the game at a draw until the final minutes. 

Bishop said Kerr’s goal was “perfectly placed in the opposite corner from distance.”

During halftime, the women’s team discussed its strategy for the next half of the match. 

Pruner said, “At halftime, we talked about how we need to be very careful defensively. Lipscomb is a very athletic team and when they attack they have a lot of speed and power. We knew if they got the opportunity to cross the balls in, it was going to be dangerous every time so we needed to stay fully focused.” 

“Lipscomb also had the wind in their favor in the second half, so it was important for us to drop our back line early if we did not have pressure on the ball. We noticed that they kept hitting long balls and with the wind that ball could travel really far and fast,” Pruner said. 

The Bears’ strategy helped them keep the Bisons from landing any shots. 

In the 78th minute, Van Gundy found an opportunity and took it. Van Gundy lined up with sophomore midfielder Megan Moudy, who cleared the way for Van Gundy to knock the ball past the goalkeeper. 

Bishop said, “Kelly [Van Gundy] is special and has a knack for making big plays in critical moments. So proud of her, she loves helping her team have success.”

With the team’s fourth ASUN win, Pruner said, “We are so excited about the rest of the season. We have many games left and it is all about giving us the best opportunities possible for the conference tournament. The only thing we have in our vision is winning the conference so that we can host the ASUN tournament for the first time.”

“Something that I love about our team is that we know that we are good enough to beat every team in the conference, but we come out humble enough for every game so we never underestimate anyone. This start has shown us that nothing is impossible for the Bears. We love to play for our home crowd, but with the team dynamic we have I would not say that playing on the road is much different,” Pruner said. “This team is my family, and don’t we all love to spend time with our family? We have so much fun together, and on the road, we can make sure to keep each other accountable. The only thing you think about is soccer and that makes the trips so fun. Our coaches do a great job taking care of us on the road, as well as our athletic trainer, Blake [Hockaday]. Besides that, we also always have a lot of parents traveling and supporting us and this makes the road trips feel a little more like home.”

The women’s soccer team will play Eastern Kentucky at home at 7 p.m. Oct. 3.