EMMITSBURG, Md. – On a rainy afternoon in western Maryland, Nia Christopher took a through ball from Jasmine Hamid and buried a shot inside the left post in overtime to send the Towson University women's soccer team to a 3-2 golden goal victory at Mount St. Mary's.
 
Towson (3-1-2) and Mount St. Mary's (1-5) each scored goals in each half, with the Mount equalizing in the 83^rd minute to force overtime.  Christopher scored in the final minute of the first overtime period to win the game for the Tigers.
 
With the victory, Towson extends its unbeaten streak to three games.
 
Key Stats:

• Nia Christopher earns her first-ever hat trick for Towson and first for the program since 2019. She notched goals in the 20^th, 70^th and 100^th minutes.  Demi Pierre assisted the first goal, with the second being a penalty kick score.  Jasmine Hamid assisted the golden goal in overtime.
• Towson outshot the Mount 23-11 in the game, putting 11 on goal to the Mount's six.  Christopher led Towson with nine shots while Phoebe Canoles had five.
• Riley Melendez picked up the victory in goal with three saves and two goals allowed in 99:23 of play.
• For Mount St. Mary's, Kalli Bell scored the team's first goal in the 31^st minute, followed by Elisabeth Rockhill scoring in the 83^rd minute.  Maggie Barron had the loss in goal, saving eight and allowing three.

Postgame Quote:

• Towson head coach Katherine Vettori: "Extremely proud of Nia Christopher, that was a big time performance.  This was a crazy game today, we were having trouble connecting passes.  We kept fighting and earned that result, I'm thrilled by the resilience this team showed today."

How It Happened:

• Mount St. Mary's immediately had an opportunity off a corner kick in the opening minute.  Kalli Bell took a long shot towards the right post.  Emily Kirkpatrick, positioned near the woodwork, kicked the ball away from the box.
• Mount St. Mary's kept the early pressure on in the open minutes, but the Towson defense held off Mount attempts.  A couple of Mount free kick attempts were sent away by the Tiger back line.
• In minute nine, a pass from Demi Pierre found the head of Jasmine Hamid in the box, but the attempt was stopped by keeper Maggie Barron.
• Towson kept up its pressure down the sideline with Pierre and Alexandra Rush, trying to get attempts off.  Nia Christopher got up top the box on a pass from Pierre in the 20^th minute.  She took aim from 20 yards out and buried the ball in the upper left corner to put Towson ahead 1-0.
• Back-and-forth the teams went as Phoebe Canoles got a couple of open looks long range, with Barron making two saves.
• The Mount equalized in the 31^st minute as Elisabeth Rockhill backed the ball out to Kalli Bell for a long range shot and score inside the left post.
• Christopher nearly got the lead back for Towson in the 42^nd minute off another long range shot, slamming the crossbar and going over the net.  The next minute as Towson kept the ball on its end, Kirkpatrick took a feed from Christopher and blasted from 25 yards away, missing right.  The two sides were tied 1-1 at the half.
• Both sides played aggressively to begin the second half, with Khori Banks getting a close shot off on the first pass, being saved near the post.
• Towson had another chance to equalize in the 55^th minute with a free kick just outside the box from Christopher, but the attempt went high.
• The Mount kept trying the long range shots as Bell attempted a shot off a free kick from around 30 yards out, missing high and right.
• As Jasmine Hamid raced into the box in the 70^th minute, a cross was blocked by a Mount player with her arm, resulting in a handball.  Christopher put away the penalty kick left side to put Towson back ahead 2-1.
• The Mount ramped up the attack and nearly got a ball past Riley Melendez, but missed wide 30 seconds after the penalty goal.  With 10 minutes left, Towson held the lead 2-1.
• Rockhill looked for a long range shot in the 83^rd minute, being saved by Melendez.  A second attempt from a similar location from Rockhill landed inside the right post to equalize the game at 2-2.
• Towson nearly took back the lead on a push in the 84^th minute.  Following Christopher's shot being blocked, Canoles, on the left side, tried a shot to the right, with Barron raising her arm and saving the shot.  Shortly thereafter, Rush took a free kick and aimed for the same spot, again with Barron diving and stopping the shot.  A third effort by Demi Pierre was saved on the right post.  The two sides went into overtime.
• First chance in overtime came from the Mount as a corner kick came off a pass into the box.  The resulting corner kick led to a header that went over the cage.
• Towson tried a counter as a ball towards the corner of the box was taken by Canoles.  A shot was blocked and the Mount cleared.
• Towson held off a Mount press by continuously stopping crosses.  Following Christopher missing a long range shot and the Mount going down the field, Towson went on a counterattack the other way.  Hamid had a perfect through ball to Christopher, who put away the shot in the left side with 37 seconds left in the first overtime, sending Towson to the 3-2 golden goal win.

Inside the Numbers:

• Nia Christopher earns the team's first hat trick since Jenna Blank had one vs. Richmond on Sept. 9, 2019.
• This is Towson's first overtime victory since Oct. 12, 2018 at Delaware.  A Justine Stoner penalty kick goal earned Towson a 2-1 win in the 105^th minute.
• Towson has won four straight games against Mount St. Mary's.

Next Game:

• Towson returns home for a Thursday night game against George Washington at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.

- TowsonTigers.com –