13 I S ON S GO 13 -Li\ C K TO 13ACK On Nov. 5, the Lady Bisons soccer team tied 1vith Southwestern Oklahoma Baptist (S\\'OSU), 2-2. However, sophomore Sierra Phillips' gual in a sudden death tic-breaker awarded the team 11·ith the Great American Conference (GAC) Tournament Championship title. This marked the second-straight and sccond-e\'Cr GA , Tournament Championship win for the Lady Bisons, finishing the season with an 11-7-2 record. This, combined with their 15-4-2 record in 2015, showed how much the Lady Bisons improved in the past years. Women's head coach Greg Harri believed it was the ladies' hean s and unified vision that aided them in their success. "[They havcJ a sense or knowing that thry can be iOmc of the best [and] not just necessarily in our conference, but nationally," Harris said. "Our girls ha,-c competed hard and they"ve practiced hard.'. Coming into a new season after seeing previous success was difficult. There was an immense amount of pressure, expectation and desire to succeed. ltimatcly, the Lady Bisons relied on one another and the abilities they each possessed, according to sophomore midfielder Bethany Sutherland. "\Ve work well when we use each other on the field and no one tries to do everything thcms lvcs," Sutherland said. "[t has been a great couple of years, and the girl arc [like] family. \\'e have [hadl ups and By ,<'Ann Hardin clowns, but we [have fought through them·! together." The Lady Bisons faced many difficult challenges this sea on, from a two-week losing streak, to winning the conference tournament title for penalty kicks. However, the team still believed in taking the season game-by-game and acknowledging their success. "\Vinning streaks arc not easy," Harris said."\ e learned ho,, to get better when we're winning and how to deal with it when we're losing." Senior captain and forward Avcrie Albright, also a captain, thought back on the season and said she could not have been more proud of the team. "1 think that e\'eryonc isj ust on the ~ame page and we all want the same thing," Albright said. "\;Ve wam to come out and play with everything we fhave], and we strive to win. I think the reason for the success is the family atmosphere we have as a team, and we make Goel the center of everything we do on JtheJ field.'' In addition, she believed that their closeness as a team contributed to their performance. Though they performed and ucccecled together, there were still various emotions during the penalty kicks in the conference final. This ,,vas Harding's first shootout in its history. Harris said he was "immediately heartbroken" for S\VOS and their loss, but was also extremely proud of his team. "\\'c'rc battle-tested, and we·re ready," H arris said. The Lady Bisons celebrate in their game against East Central University on Oct. 2 7, in' Searcy. T his game was the highest scoring soccer game in the history of the Great American Conference. I Photo by Kazu Fujisawa Senior ,\lelita Sutherland takes the ball do11•11 thejtl'lrl against East Central UniversifJ' 011 Ort. 27, in Sermy Sutherland was named to !hi' 2016 Divi.1ion fl . Votio11al Sorcer C:oachn ,l.1.1oriatio11 of .l111erira All-Central Region team 011 Dec I. I l'holo l~y ka;::,u Fujisawa
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