Ava Martin booted the Missouri Western women’s soccer team to unprecedented heights on Saturday.
The former Ankeny Centennial star scored the golden goal in overtime to give the fourth-seeded Griffons a 2-1 victory over No. 6-seed Central Oklahoma in the championship game of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) tournament at the Scheels Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan.
Missouri Western captured the first MIAA postseason crown in program history. The win also gives the Griffons the league’s automatic ticket to the NCAA Division II tournament.
“I’ve been battling with a strained hamstring for the past month or so, so things have been kind of inconsistent and up and down,” said Martin. “But I’m happy to be healthy for this exciting time and end of the season!”
Martin, who scored a school-record 48 goals and also racked up 32 assists in her high school career, has helped Missouri Western to a 12-2-7 record. The freshman forward has played in 13 games with one start, contributing two goals and one assist in 425 minutes of action.
“Overall, the transition has been smooth,” Martin said. “I feel like I fit in nicely on the team and can contribute. I do like my role on the team, and it’s nice being able to play forward in a comfortable position!”
Martin played 37 minutes off the bench in Saturday’s contest, which was tied at 1-1 at halftime. The Griffons took an early 1-0 lead when Kiara Carr found the net in the 6th minute off an assist by Rosemary Pujado, but Central Oklahoma answered in the 19th minute with an unassisted strike from Jane Lockhart.
Neither squad could break the deadlock through the remainder of regulation, sending the match into overtime. In the 100th minute, Martin delivered the golden goal off a perfect cross from Carr to secure the championship.
“I definitely was in the right place at the right time,” Martin said. “My teammate made an amazing effort to get the ball in on a cross, and I was just right there kind of free in the middle. No one was challenging me, and I just went for it and it turned out perfect!”
Goalkeeper Morgan Byrd also played a key role in the win. She finished with five saves for the Griffons.
The NCAA Championship bracket will be unveiled during the selection show on Monday, streamed live on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. That’s when the Griffons will learn their opponent for the opening round.