Junior Summer Lanter has scored her share of goals during her career at Lee University, but she will always remember the goal she tallied at the 83:33 mark to give the Lady Flames the 2-1 upset victory over No. 1 and previously undefeated Columbus State University on Wednesday evening at the Lee Soccer Field.
The Lady Flames were down but not out at the halftime break 1-0. Cheered on by a vocal Lee crowd in the second 45 minutes, coach Chris Hennessey’s club came out of the break with renewed life.
With only 2:45 gone off the scoreboard clock, Lauren Peters flipped a shot over the Lady Cougars’ goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Kaela Leskovar got the assist.
The score seemed to bring the Lee fans even more alive and certainly pumped more energy and confidence into the entire Lee squad.
When the contest seemed headed for certain overtime, Lanter seized on the moment. She collected an assist from Peters and beat the Columbus State keeper one-on-one, scoring into the open net.
“I was running as hard as I could the entire match,” said the exhausted Lanter as she flashed a big smile. It was Lanter’s third goal of the season. Peters collected her second goal and also added her first assist of the year.
The Columbus State goal was scored by Olivia Jarrell when she skipped a shot past Lee keeper Haley Gribler just 11:57 deep into the opening half. Gribler came back with five key saves and got the win. Lady Cougar keeper Marilyn Parsons had three saves in the loss.
“It was a great result for us tonight, but above all I am happy for the team,” said Hennessey after his club posted their third straight victory and improved to 3-1-1 on the year. “Our girls have worked extremely hard since reporting for preseason and they fully deserved it.
“Columbus is a top team and there were periods in the game (especially in the first half) when we had to withstand a lot of pressure. Again, I thought our defense showed good resiliency and they needed all of that tonight.
“I’m proud of everyone on the team. It's another quick turnaround and we need to make sure we bring the same energy and intensity on Sunday,” he concluded. The Lady Flames will open Gulf South Conference play on Sunday and host rival North Alabama in a 2 p.m. kickoff.