A miraculous late-season run and shocking first-round win in the Sun Belt tournament was put to rest as the Marshall women’s soccer team saw the end of their season Wednesday. 

The three-time defending conference champions of South Alabama took away the chances of the Cinderella story for the 10th-seeded Herd, with two overtime goals from the opposition sealing the fate. 

The always-reliable senior Kat Gonzales put Marshall on the board first in the 16th minute, taking a 1-0 lead. Despite pressure on Marshall goalkeeper Alexis Wolgemuth raining down from the champions, she kept the Jaguars scoreless for the first 77 minutes. 

A game-tying goal in the 78th minute from South Alabama and no more scoring from either side after left it to go to overtime. Going deep into extra minutes, Marshall capsized and the defending champions scored two goals to seal the deal. 

Heartbreak set in for Marshall as the realization hit that the 2022 campaign had ended. Not all is negative, however, as this season and late run into the quarterfinals added up for Marshall to finish with its highest point total since 2018. The seniors are sent off after a valiant effort and will return to Huntington with a decent outing. 

“We are so proud of what we achieved this season,” Marshall women’s soccer head coach Michael Swan said after the game. Being a young team favors the Herd, with countless potentials to come in the future.