By Oaklee Fielder, Sports Editor
The pressure was on the Lady Rangers this week as they found a way to make the GAC tournament, and now have a chance to bring it home.
The Lady Rangers had the toughest last four games on their schedule, one after another. After a loss to Ouachita Baptist and Harding University, the Lady Rangers had tons of pressure to make the playoffs after a spectacular comeback 2025 season.
The two teams left on their schedule were Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene University. The last meetings with the two teams provide great insight into the latest games. The Lady Rangers and Bulldogs tied at zero on Oct 15. NWOSU defeated SNU 3-2 on Sep 27.
Taylor Annen was the goalkeeper for the Lady Rangers in both matches.
NWOSU 0-1 SWOSU
The game started with early action. Just 11 seconds into the game, there was a foul on Northwestern, giving the Bulldogs the ball. Southwestern gave an early shot on goal, but Annen saved it from going in, and the Lady Rangers were on the attack. Kamalei Kealoha had Northwestern’s first two shots.
Neither entered the back of the net. Jordan Fawcett also gave an attempt, but there was no luck for the Lady Rangers.
The action did not stop there; the two teams continued to give shots toward their opponents’ goalkeepers, but the goalies stayed perfect, and no goals were scored. The two teams were incredibly offensive, as they continued to shoot shots throughout the first half. The first half ended tied at zero.
The second half was a bit of a slower start compared to the first half. It took a few minutes for a shot to be taken, but eventually one was.
The Bulldogs gave the first shot of the half in the 49th minute and continued their pressure. SWOSU found a way to shut down the Northwestern offense. The Lady Rangers only gave the Southwestern goalkeeper one shot to save in the entire second half.
In the 67th minute, SWOSU scored the only goal of the game, putting the Lady Rangers down in the closing stages of the game. In the 89th minute, Christi-Anne Mills gave a shot in hopes of tying the game in the final minute, but it was saved by the Bulldog goalkeeper.
Christi-Anne Mills had three shots in the game, two on goal. Fawcett and Kealoha had two each, none on goal. Annen had seven saves against the Bulldogs.
SNU 1-1 NWOSU
The Lady Rangers and Crimson Storm battled through strong winds on Saturday, with wind speeds being recorded from 20 mph to 40 mph throughout the game.
Going into the game, the two teams were close in points, with NWOSU up by three in the GAC standings.
Although they were close, the Lady Rangers had practically punched their ticket to the GAC Championships.
The Crimson Storm struck first in the windy game. After the two teams had given three shots apiece, SNU scored in the 29th minute to give them some hope of stealing NWOSU’s ticket. The first half didn’t see much more action, a few shots and some fouls, but no balls entering the nets.
Just six minutes into the second half, Fawcett shattered SNU’s hopes and scored to tie the game at one in the 51st minute.
The two teams continued to battle hard, with many shots being taken and fouls being given, but neither goaltender allowed another goal.
With the tie, the Lady Rangers punched their ticket to the Great American Conference Championships to give them a chance to win the championship.