MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Trailing 3-0 and 3-1 at the half, the Valdosta State women's soccer team dug deep and battled back for a 4-3 victory in overtime as sophomore Rachael Howard scored at the 105:31 mark for her golden goal.  She also tallied an assist in the match.
 
The Blazers improved to 2-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while AUM fell to 1-3 and 1-3 in league play.  Sophomore forward Bailey Hern had two goals, while junior Kyleigh Reedy added two assists and freshman Ashley Puentes added an assist.   Junior Lauren Hicks scored the equalizing goal in the 83^rd minute.  VSU freshman goalkeeper Landon Carter made her second-straight start and earned her first collegiate victory (1-0-1) with three saves.  Hern finished the game with a game-high eight shots and six on frame.  No other Blazer had more than two shots.  Hern was named the Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game.
 
Both VSU and AUM had 18 shots for the match, while VSU had 13 on frame and the Warhawks had six on target.  VSU had three saves for the match, while AUM had nine.  AUM's Jaindl Mayson had two goals on two shots, while Allison McCrimon added the third goal.  Between the posts, Rebecca Jameison allowed four goals and had nine saves.
 
The Warhawks came out on fire and set the tone early with three shots and two corner kicks.  McCrimon scored at the 12:08 mark and AUM continued the offensive pressure with three more shots before Mayson tallied her first score at the 29:29 mark.  Mayson then added her second goal at the 38:21 mark for a 3-0 score, marking the same amount of goals VSU allowed in the first half of the last meeting in Montgomery on Sept. 14, 2018.  In that game, VSU trailed 3-2 at half and scored four goals in the second half for a 6-3 victory.
 
VSU got a big boost of momentum in the final minute of the first half as Hern found the back of the net for her first goal as a Blazer with assists from Puentes and Reedy for a 3-1 deficit.  AUM held a 10-7 lead in shots in the first half. 
 
Less than ten minutes into the second half, Hern scored again with an assist from Reedy and a 3-2 deficit as the comeback was on.  VSU found more offensive chances in the second half and in the overtimes as Howard set a nice pass to Hicks for the equalizer at the 82:42 mark as Howard now has recorded at least one point in each of her four games as a Blazer.
 
VSU three good looks and two saves from Jameison in the first overtime and then, in the second extra session, Howard had the heroics with her team-leading third goal of the season and the winner.  VSU improved to 10-10-20 all-time in overtime matches and has won two overtime matches for the first time since 2017.  The Blazers improved to 4-1 all-time against AUM. 
 
The Blazers return home to host Shorter on Friday, Mar. 12 at 3 p.m. at the VSU Soccer Complex.