Kelsey Spoelstra made her first collegiate goal a memorable one. The first year forward scored 6:39 into overtime to lift the Eastern University Eagles to a 2-1 win at Misericordia University (8-2-1, 0-1 Freedom).

Spoelstra breakaway goal came on the third shot of the extra frame for the Eagles. Tess Beckwith nearly won in the 94th minute, but Misericordia keeper Morgan Myers pushed her shot into the crossbar, and the Eagles were unable to get a follow-up effort on frame. A minute later, Spoelstra found space in a seam and cracked a shot that slid wide left. 

Spoelstra's breakaway came after the Cougars cleared their zone and pushed into the Eastern half. Freshman center back Kara Lofton lifted a long clear toward midfield that Kelsey Doutrich nodded down for a running Spoelstra. Spoelstra battled the bouncing ball at full speed, but managed to push it into space before sliding a hard shot into the lower left corner of the goal.

"I could not be happier for Kelsey," Eastern Head Coach Dan Mouw said after the match, "She has missed a ton of time with injury. She finally got cleared to play today, and she gave us a huge lift in the game, and obviously the final play was a special effort."

"Like a lot of our game today," Mouw continued, "it was not a work of art, but it was what needed to happen. I think she took a pair of touches with her knees on the way to goal. If we can keep her healthy, she is going to do a lot of good things this year."

The Eagles took a lead in the 31st minute on an own goal. The own goal, however, came as the direct result of some good attacking play. After a push deep into the Misericordia zone forced a short clear, Kristine Zeiset picked up the ball on the left side. Zeiset drew the defense and slotted a ball to Tess Beckwith on the wing. Beckwith earned the edge and drove toward the near post. Her cross slid past the Misericordia goalkeeper, but the attempted clear slipped in at the back post.

The Eagles (7-2-1, 1-0 Freedom) held a 6-4 edge in shots and a 3-2 edge in corners at the intermission, but they did not put any of the shots on frame. Sarah Herman, on the other hand, made two of her four saves before the break. 

Misericordia drew level on a Kim Suchoski tally in the 59th minute. Shortly after the Cougar goal, the Eagles nearly retook the lead as Doutrich redirected an attempted clear just over the crossbar. Herman and the Eagles had to fight off a pair of Misericordia corner kicks in the 80th minute, but then seemed to take control of the match and took several good chances at goal over the final ten minutes.

Misericordia won the coin toss for overtime and elected to continue to play with the tough sun at their backs for the first extra frame. Herman had to battle that tough sun on the first shot of the overtime, but the first year keeper was up to the task and she held Laura Roney's 30 yard floater. 

The Eagles travel to Messiah College for a 7:00 p.m. game on October 6.