Storm upset No. 17 Wartburg, advance to A-R-C Championship

WAVERLY, Iowa – Cassie Nash tied the match with 2:22 left in regulation and scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes into overtime to send the Simpson College women's soccer team to the American Rivers Conference Championship for the first time since 2009 with a 2-1 victory over No. 17 Wartburg.

The Storm handed the two-seeded Knights just their second loss of the season as they dropped out of the tournament with a 15-2-2 record. Simpson improved to 12-5-1 with its first win over Wartburg since 2009.

Simpson will head to top-seeded Loras on Saturday for the 2022 A-R-C Championship. The No. 15/11 Duhawks (15-0-3, 8-0 A-R-C) earned a spot in the title match with a commanding 5-0 win over Luther earlier tonight.

With just over 11 minutes left in regulation, Wartburg finally broke through with a goal after an intense defensive battle took over the first 78 minutes. Sarah Campbell cashed in on a deep free kick opportunity to give the Knights a late 1-0 lead.

Jordyn Foelske assisted Nash in arguably the Storm's biggest goal of the season with just 2:22 remaining. Foelske's pass from the left side of the box went past Wartburg's diving keeper right in front of Nash who had a wide open net in front of her to knot things up at 1-1. Neither team had another scoring opportunity in regulation and the game went into extra minutes.

Wartburg generated a corner kick early in the first overtime period, but Lizzie Arnburg cleared it out of the box towards Nash who gained control of the ball and was off to the races. She beat three defenders in front of her and slotted the ball past the goalie and just inside the right post to give Simpson its first lead.

Due to new overtime rules eliminating the golden goal, the Storm defense had to go back to work for 18 more minutes. Simpson managed to hold the nationally-ranked Knights without a shot attempt for the entire duration of overtime, sealing the upset victory.

Lani Mears earned the win in goal and made four saves against the Knights who took 17 shots. Arnburg, Elle Street, and Abby Cozzoni each played all 110 minutes on defense. 

Nash took seven shots on the night, placing five on target. All three of Julia Wagoner's shot attempts were on frame as Simpson finished with an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. 

The Storm will play in their first championship match since falling to Dubuque in the 2009 tournament final. Simpson aims to win its first league tournament title since 1999. 

Up Next
Simpson and Loras will meet on Saturday in Dubuque to determine the 2022 A-R-C Tournament Champions. Kickoff time will be determined soon.