The Monroe Mustangs women's soccer team has won the national championship.  By virtue of a penalty kick goal by sophomore Ana Carol Rodrigues with just over four minutes remaining in the second overtime period, the second-seeded Mustangs defeated Iowa Central, the top-seed and defending national champion 2-1 in the NJCAA Women's Division I National Soccer Championship game. 
 
Ironically The Reivers dealt the Mustangs their only loss in the second game of their historic 18-1-1 national championship season and were the team that ousted Monroe in the second round of last year's nationals.
 
"We had said we would be the last team on the field standing at the end of the 2014 season from the first day of preseason, 107 days ago," Coach Jonathan Garbar said after the game, "and we kept our word. This achievement is the result of student athletes who committed themselves to more than a program, but a lifestyle. This achievement belongs to the eleven warriors who competed for 210 minutes in less than 24 hours against the #3 and #1 teams in the nation and the ten who drove and inspired them in the way that only true teammates can. I am honored and forever proud to be their coach."
 
The championship win was a come-from behind victory for Monroe. Iowa Western was the first to get on the board with a score in the first half on a free kick In the 32nd minute, Reivers sophomore midfielder Nicole Gowans sent a precise pass on target for a streaking Celia Jimenez. The sophomore forward directed the ball past Monroe goalie Tiffany Martinez to give Iowa Western a 1-0 advantage.
 
The lead held until the 70^th minute when sophomore camptain Melanie Formosa notched a game-tying goal off a corner kick by sophomore midfielder Samantha Mendez who sent the ball screaming towards the back of the penalty area. Rodrigues flew towards the airborne target and shot it toward the net where Formosa tipped it in to the left side of the net, knotting the game up at 1-1.
 
Then, in the 106th minute – in the second ten-minute overtime period, Monroe drove a long pass towards the net from midfield. Mustangs freshman forward Gabriela Maidana got behind the defense with an angle on the ball. Iowa Western freshman goalie Haley Johnson rushed towards the ball for a clearing attempt when she collided with the charging Maidana, creating the penalty kick opportunity for Monroe.
 
On the attempt, Johnson leaned to her left and Rodrigues punched the shot into the opposite corner of the net for the game-winning, golden goal. The score clinched a Monroe victory over the defending national champions.  

Photos of the tournament - courtesy Mike Brown

This is the Mustangs' first NJCAA women's soccer national title and Monroe's first-ever team Division I national championship.  They've won two DII titles and two DIII titles in women's basketball  and numerous Division I national championships in track and field.
 
Entering the tournament as the #2-seed, Monroe began their run in the nationals with two relatively easy victories in pool play. The Mustangs shutout #11-seed Owens 4-0 in their opener and followed with a 4-1 victory over #7-seed Pima to advance out of the group. In the semifinals, Monroe battled No. 3-seed Eastern Florida State to a 0-0 tie on their home turf before advancing 4-2 in penalty kicks.
 
The national final was the first time all season that a team had scored two goals in a game against the Reivers, who finished the season 21-0-2.  Previously they had given up only four goals all year, meaning that the Mustangs halved that total in one memorable night.
 
After the tournament, Rodrigues was named 'attacker of the tournament, Martinez, who stopped two PK's in the semifinal was awarded 'defender of the tournament' and Maidana and Lorina White were named to the All-Tournament's first team.  Coach Garbar was the Coach of the Tournament.