Mentally and physically, day in and day out since August, the Lancaster Bible College women's soccer team has been preparing for a game like Thursday's. For much of the day, they controlled play, had chances to score and defended well. And then suddenly, it was all over.

The dream of an NCCAA National Championship gone in a blink of an eye. Maranatha Baptist Bible College's Merriellen Roth scored just over a minute into overtime to give the Crusaders a 2-1 win and send them into the NCCAA National Championship Game.

Box Score

Though it ended their shot at a national title, Chargers' Head Coach Ken Craul still could not describe how Roth's goal went in two hours later.

"They transitioned well from their defensive end and we didn't do a great job of challenging them," Craul said. "They moved the ball laterally and Roth took this strange looking shot that had a ton of topspin on it. Once it got over [Emily] Lloyd's head, I knew it was in. I still don't know if she tried that specific shot or if it was an accident."

Accident or not, Roth's goal sends the Chargers into the Third Place Game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. where they will face Baptist Bible College for the third time this season. The Defenders won the first two meetings, including the NCCAA East Region Final two weeks ago in Clarks Summit, Pa.

Saturday's game was the last thing on the minds of the LBC players following the game. Craul said he and assistant coach Doug Huff could say very little to calm the emotions of the players.

"The team obviously knew it was sudden death overtime, but just the suddenness of how quickly it all ends is something you can't prepare for," Craul said. "There is a lot of disappointment and this is not the ending we envisioned for our team."

MBBC's Karis Rogers opened the scoring 16 minutes into the game on an unassisted goal. The lead lasted less than three minutes as LBC's Whitney Heise scored off a feed from Kristina Clairmont to tie the game at 1-1. The Chargers continued to dominate play for much of the final 60 minutes, but could not finish.

Clairmont, the program's all-time leading scorer, had a shot hit the crossbar and sophomore sensation Ally Brown rocketed a shot off the right post just minutes later.

"We had a lot of good opportunities, but just didn't finish," Craul said. "We have struggled with finishing our opportunities lately and it caught up with us."

Though they can't win a national championship, Craul said the Chargers will come out strong for Saturday's Third Place Game.

"We will regroup, use Friday's off day for some rest and come out with a vengeance on Saturday," Craul said. "We want to finish the season on our terms and we will be ready to play hard on Saturday."

Notes:
-LBC out shot the Crusaders, 25-6 and held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

-The Chargers are now 0-2 all-time in the NCCAA National Semi-Finals. They lost to Clearwater Christian, 3-2 in 2004.

-This was the first meeting between the two schools.

-Heise's goal was her 14th of the season. That is the most goals in a season since Clairmont's 16 in 2008.