MEMPHIS - In a battle for the top spot in the SAA Standings, the Rhodes College women's soccer went toe-to-toe with 21st ranked Centre to a scoreless game in regulation. However, a goal three minutes into the overtime period gave Centre a 1-0 win over Rhodes on Sunday afternoon.

For the Lynx, it was a tough defeat and their first drawback in conference play. It also snapped a seven game streak without a loss including six wins in that span. 

Rhodes out played the nationall ranked Colonels for nearly all the match, out shooting Centre 20-13 including an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. Centre was able to get eight corner kicks on the day to Rhodes' two.

It was quite the start in the first half as junior Anna Maldonado made a great save in the first 15 minutes to keep the game scoreless early on. Meanwhile, Rhodes found some opportunities off the foots of junior Emma Selner and senior Nicolette Glidden, but the two teams remained scoreless after one half.

At halftime, the Lynx recognized their five seniors for Senior Day: Kelsey Sweeney, Nicolette Glidden, Elise Grisoni, Angie Hurlow, and Sarah Wachter.

In the second half it was Rhodes with an early opportunity as sophomore Brenna Katz sent a missle towards goal on a free kick that hit the crossbar to keep the score knotted up. The Lynx continued their offensive attack as sophomore Rachel Giampapa did a terrific job creating chances all throughout the second half.

Meanwhile, defensively, junior Ellie Valega was doing a masterful job of locking up senior All-American Destinie Graves. Valega stuck to her for much of the match and limited her opportunities throughout. 

In the 77th minute, Rhodes earned a penalty kick on a hand ball in the box. Despite a terrific strike, the shot hit the top of the cross bar and landed just in front of the goal line to keep the game scoreless.

Centre got a few late opportunities, but the Rhodes defense held strong and sent the game into overtime.

However, only one shot was taken in overtime and it was the golden goal as a wild scramble on a corner kick found the foot of Keeghan Francis to give Centre the win and lock up a share of the SAA Regular Season Championship.

Despite a terrific effort, it was a heartbreaking defeat for the Lynx. The Rhodes defense, led by Valega, freshman Carly Cone, senior Kelsey Sweeney, senior Sarah Wachter, and sophomore Aly Hoyt played a truly spectacular match against a great Centre offense.

Maldonado was also terrific, only allowing her second goal of the season. She finished Sunday with three saves in the match.

Rhodes moves to 7-3-1 on the year and 4-1-1 in conference play. They will look to wrap up the No. 2 seed next weekend as they prepare to take on Hendrix College in Conway next Saturday. Before that, Rhodes will play a non-conference contest against Belhaven on Wednesday at 7 PM.