Digging for gold not working with a shovel?
 
Just use your head.
 
Needing more than 80 minutes to determine who got the nod for nationals, the Grand Canyon University Women's Club Soccer Purple team used a Cienna Rush score off a blocked penalty kick in the 11^th minute of overtime to defeat the University of Minnesota, 2-1, to win the Region V National Qualifier match Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska. The win – the team's 3^rd in four matches on the weekend – paves the road for the Lopes' first-ever trip to the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association Women's Soccer National Championships, which begin Thursday, November 20 in Overland Park, Kansas.
 
The final match was just an extension of the "close-to-the-vest" style of matches that permeated GCU's trek through the field. Offense wasn't at a premium during Saturday's pool-play round, so the Lopes were forced to use their defense to battle from behind in their opener against the Colorado School of Mines. Conceding a goal in the second minute of the tournament that the Orediggers used to lead most of the match, the Lopes got the tying and gamewinning goals within a three-minute span in the second half from Isabella Smith and Anne Anderson to grab a 2-1 win. The Lopes learned their lessons from that by scoring early in their second match against Iowa State University, making Addisyn McMahon's score late in the 1^st half stand up in a 1-0 win that saw GCU goalkeeper Sydney Cox flummox the Cyclones' offense for 80 minutes for the shutout. The win over ISU automatically punched the team's tickets for the Sunday morning national qualifier, but the momentum they hoped to have going into the match was stifled somewhat by their final pool play match – a physical 4-0 loss to the University of Missouri Saturday night.
 
Sunday morning, the Lopes dominated the ball and energy in the first 40 minutes against Minnesota but couldn't break through in a scoreless first half. The Golden Gophers took a 1-0 lead early in the second half, and seemed to be cruising towards a shutout win until Caitlyn Winter set up McMahon, who headed into the tying goal with just two minutes left in regulation to send the match to the 15-minute sudden death overtime period. After a stalemate during the first 10 minutes of the extra session, the Lopes got a break with a penalty called in the box against Minnesota. Raelyn Barnes' ensuing kick was deflected by the Golden Gophers' goalie, but bounced to Rush, who left-footed it to the back of the net to begin the Lopes' celebration.
 
"We knew from Minute 1 that we were the more energetic team and that the match was ours to win," said Lopes' Head Coach Alex Martins. "Just play with the same confidence and security again for the second half and we'd qualify for Kansas. We knew the risk one mistake could be, but the team's motivation and drive to push and find the equalizer and winner was incredibly admirable. Proud would be a massive understatement for how I feel about this team."
 
The Lopes won't know their seeding or schedule until the end of next week but at least know they're heading to the Sunflower State in two weeks to begin play in the three-day tournament, which will crown a champion on Saturday, November 22. Schedules will be posted on the women's club soccer page on the GCU Club Sports website.