SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – With less than five minutes to go, the Notre Dame College (7-0) women's soccer team saw its 1-0 lead, which had been established just nine minutes into the game, erased by West Liberty (2-5-1).
 
With the score tied 1-1, it looked like overtime would be played, but only for a moment. Alexis Manoa, on a shot assisted by Katarina Doncevic, scored the game-winning goal 68 seconds after the Hilltoppers tied the game.
 
Shortly after gaining the lead, the Falcons scored again with forward Jackie Corrigan and Janelle Bernal hooking up for the final goal in the 89th minute. Corrigan now leads the team with six goals while freshman Bernal earned her second assist.
 
Manoa spoke after the game on how her and the team were able to respond so quickly while head coach Mike Shiels was impressed with how the game ended.
 
"It's been like that this season," Manoa said. "It's taken other teams scoring to get us to score. First, we didn't want to go into overtime and second, we didn't want to lose. We're still undefeated and that means a lot to us. Our goal is to win the conference and one of other goals is to go undefeated. It gives us that extra push to make sure we come out on top."
 
"It was a great way to respond to a late goal like that and I was really happy they were able to do it so quickly," Shiels said. "Nothing came easy today and to respond that way was huge."
 
The 1-0 lead in the tenth minute was earned by Norah Barnes who scored her first goal of the season, but after the early goal not much was going in the first half. With the temperature in the upper 80s, the teams may have been struggling to find their footing.
 
"It was tough for both teams," Shiels said. "It took a bit of the tempo away for both teams, especially at one point in the first half where things kind of ground to a halt."
 
Things opened up a bit in the second half, but goalkeeper Allie Warsaw earned multiple impressive saves to keep the Falcons on hold for a bit. Warsaw ended the game with seven saves, six coming in the second half.
 
Notre Dame will travel to Ashland University on Tuesday, September 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.