By Denise Cronister
Student Reporter
After several rain delays and a nine-day stretch, the Lady Rangers took on heated rivals Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.
NWOSU Lady Rangers slowed down the Southwestern Bulldog offensive attack but were held off the scoresheet in a 2-0 loss.
After having matches against East Central and Southwestern postponed due to weather across the state, the ladies were back in action against the Great American Conference’s second-ranked team.
Southwestern scored in the 33rd minute, taking the lead 1-0.
Bulldog Alimata Rabo managed to slip one past Lady Ranger freshman goalkeeper Reagan Allen.
Northwestern recorded seven shots in the game.
The Lady Rangers held off pressure late in the frame to head to halftime trailing SWOSU 1-0.
The tension was high in the second half as the Rangers were issued three yellow cards in a closely contested game that saw 23 total fouls.
The Bulldogs scored again in the 73rd minute to extend their lead to 2-0, a deficit that the Lady Rangers were not able to overcome.
The Lady Rangers were back in action on Thursday against the Tigers of Ouachita Baptist. A 3-1 score was enough to knock off the Lady Rangers for the loss.
Senior Audrey Salas scored her first goal in the Lady Ranger uniform, but her penalty kick was not enough to defeat the Tigers.
The Tigers built up a 3-0 lead in the first half putting the Rangers in an early hole despite strong play.
After the first half, head coach James Ross made adjustments. The Lady Rangers came out fast and physical in the second half, controlling the pace for most of the half.
In the 58th minute, the Lady Rangers caught a break with a foul in the box leading to the first penalty kick of the season for the red-and-black.
Salas made the most of her chance as she shot the ball into the top left corner of the cage, cutting the deficits to two.
Northwestern managed 18 shots, its second highest total of the season, but couldn’t solve Ouachita goalkeeper Erin Webster down the stretch.
Lady Ranger goalie Reagan Allen and Webster each made eight saves in the match.
A quick turnaround saw the Lady Rangers putting up a fight while playing their last home game of the season Saturday against Harding University.
The Lady Rangers fell 2-0 to the third place Bison.
Twenty-eight minutes into the game, after forcing Northwestern’s goalkeeper Kiara Fontanilla to make a diving save, Grizzell broke past a defender and collected her own rebound and scored from four feet out, taking the lead 1-0.
Just moments later the Lady Rangers missed a scoring chance when a rebound off of Makayla Barrientos shot fell right into Harding’s hands.
The sophomore had missed just above the crossbar leaving Harding with the 1-0 lead in the first half.
The second half was very physical. Harding had 11 fouls and three yellow cards.
After a tough foul was called inside the box against the Lady Rangers, the Bison capitalized on the penalty kick, extending the lead 2-0.
Kailani Kealoha nearly scored for the Lady Rangers in the second half but the attempt soared just above the goal.
The Lady Rangers continued to put pressure and play defense in the second half but Harding held on and took the 2-0 win.
Saturday also honored seven Lady Ranger seniors on Senior Day. These seven seniors took the home field for the final time in their collegiate career.
The Lady Ranger seniors were, Megan Maharry, Karla Lopez, Audrey Salas, Clarissa Hinojo, Kaley Whitworth, Haleigh Brown and Calvonis Prentice.
The Lady Rangers have three games on the road to finish the season starting with a make-up game against East Central on Oct. 22 before facing Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma Baptsit.