JACKSON, Mississippi – Howard Payne University (5-11-1) received goals from Taylor Bicknell and Rachel Crane but fell in overtime, 3-2 against Belhaven University (6-11) on Saturday afternoon in Jackson. 

Howard Payne struck first in the twelfth minute when Taylor Bicknell got her foot on a ball that found the back of the net to give the Jackets the early momentum. Not long after, Belhaven was able to match the score at 1-1 in the 18th minute. 

The Yellow Jackets faced eight more shots in the first half but junior Nicole Goodwin was able to fend off the Belhaven attack for the rest of the half. In all, Howard Payne was outshot 9-2 in the first half. But, they held on to keep the game competitive despite receiving a yellow card in the 33rd minute. 

Rachel Crane came out of the half and put the Lady Jackets back on top, 2-1 in 61st minute. Crane took a shot from 15 yards out of the box and placed it squarely on frame to register her third goal of the season. 

Belhaven stayed on the attack and ended up out-shooting Howard Payne 9-4. They answered back almost immediately after Crane's goal, placing one in the back of the net in 62nd minute to notch the score back up at 2-2. 

The two teams exchanged shots the rest of the period before regular time ended in the 2-2 tie. In the first bit of extra-time, Belhaven freed themselves up for goal in the waning minutes of the first overtime. The goal put them up 3-2 and they held on to win the game from there. 

Howard Payne was out-shot, 23-6 with 13 of those shots from Belhaven being on frame as opposed to the Jackets three shots on frame. Despite being out-shot, the Howard Payne goal-keeping tandem of Nicole Goodwin and Shelby Spaulding kept the game competitive. 

Rachel Crane had four shots, two of them on frame while Taylor Bicknell finished with one goal on two shots. Goodwin recorded seven saves and Spaulding added three saves in the loss. 

The Yellow Jackets finish Coach Bageley's first season having improved on their record by two games and saw their play improve dramatically over the last portion of the season. They finish the season with a 5-11-1 record and they showed some resilience, having battled injuries and other outside influences during that time. 

Stay tuned to HPUSports.com and follow along on Twitter @HPUWSoc as the Jackets look to continue improving during the offseason.