Fighting back from a 2-0 halftime deficit, the Cowley College women’s soccer team pulled out an exciting 3-2 double overtime victory in its conference opener played Thursday at Coffeyville. Jessica Santos de Sa’s goal 5:44 into the second overtime helped Cowley improve to 2-1 on the season.

Cowley College head coach Dane Straight was proud of the resiliency his team showed in coming from behind.

“We didn’t panic at halftime, we just challenged ourselves to do more in the second half,” Straight said. “Give Coffeyville credit, they fought the entire game, but we knew we could come back.”

Following a pair of goals by Coffeyville forward Daisy Zapata, Cowley finally got on the board 4:18 into the second half as Sammy Miller scored unassisted. Sophomore Bailey Martinson’s first goal of the season tied the game at 2-2 with 19:32 left in regulation.

The score would remain tied through the first overtime and until Santos de Sa was able to capitalize off an assist from Ludmila Elias with 4:16 left in the second overtime.

Santos de Sa, a freshman from Brasilia, Brazil, has scored three goals in Cowley’s first three games of the season. Sophomore Erika Carpenter, who started in goal, moved into the field in the second half and assisted on Martinson’s goal. While, freshman Meredith McKee played the final 61 minutes in goal and earned her first collegiate victory.

“It’s nice to get that first conference victory out of the way,” Straight said.

Cowley will now prepare to play its home opener vs. Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“It has been a bit of a rivalry game between us and them, so we will expect a good challenge,” Straight said. “It will be nice to play at home after three consecutive road games. We hope to have a good home crowd on hand to support us.”