WILMINGTON, N.C. – Troy’s Cecilia Thorngren scored the golden goal in the 110th minute of double overtime on Friday night, Sept. 7, to hand the Elon women’s soccer team a heartbreaking 2-1 setback in the opening game of the UNCW Courtyard Marriott Wilmington Invitational.
“Our spirit, effort and leadership was exceptional in the second half and in overtime tonight,” said Phoenix head coach Chris Neal. “If we can learn from that from here on out, we can be successful.”
After falling behind early in the first period, Elon battled back late in the second half, as sophomore Simi Dhaliwal connected on her first goal of the season to make it a 1-1 match in the 75th minute.
The Phoenix had scoring opportunities against Troy in the first overtime, as a Kim Gardner shot off a Catherine Brinkman corner in the 100th minute was saved by Troy goalie Maddie Winter to keep the game locked at 1-1. Gardner nearly connected on the golden goal again in the 103rd minute off another Brinkman corner, but the Trojans blocked the shot to keep the Phoenix at bay.
With 55 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Thorngren connected on a shot from the left side of the box into the back right corner of the net for the golden goal, giving Troy the 2-1 win.
Thorngren also assisted on Troy’s first goal of the match in the seventh minute.
Both teams ended the match with 12 shots. Elon put six of its shots on goal, while Troy placed four shots on target. The Trojans ended the match with a slight 5-4 edge in corners.
The Phoenix returns to action on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Campbell.