Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 12, 2017) – Through a long stretch of losses, through six straight games on the road in the middle of the season, through injuries to key players, through four heartbreaking overtime defeats, Oklahoma Christian's players and coaches refused to hang their heads or give up on each other.

That perseverance finally paid off Thursday night. Senior defender Chelsea Key scored from a scrum in the penalty box in the 88th minute and OC successfully ran out the clock from there to beat St. Mary's (Texas) 2-1 at the Eagle Soccer Field.

OC (2-11, 1-8 Heartland Conference) won for the first time since its season opener, when the Lady Eagles beat East Central 1-0. Among the losses in that 11-game stretch was a 2-1 OT defeat at St. Mary's.

"In the pregame, we had high energy and we were very intense," OC coach Meagan Anderson said. "The beginning of the game was intense and we carried that throughout and the result of that was on the scoreboard. It's a monkey-off-the-back type of win and one that the girls have been working for for two months. It's nice to be rewarded for that hard work that they've been doing.

"I told them after the game that this is a result of what we've been doing every day. They have been working every game and it's a testament to them. They could easily walk up and say, 'Eh, not going to do it today,' but they don't do that. We're on them pretty hard. We want to change. We want to do things different. This is one of the ways to do it."

St. Mary's (6-5-2, 3-4-2) needed a win to keep pace it its quest for the four-team Heartland postseason tournament and the Rattlers outshot OC 22-15, but it was OC that struck first.

In the 27th minute, St. Mary's defender Alexandra Pearson took down OC's Courtney Nixon in the penalty box, and Nixon beat St. Mary's goalkeeper Erin Longford on the ensuing penalty kick. Nixon's goal was her third of the season.

OC didn't enjoy the lead for long. In the 29th minute, Roxy Cruz Santory buried a free kick from about 25 yards out to tie the game.

Both teams had ample opportunities to score the rest of the way. Each team had a shot hit the crossbar – Dakota Milner did so for OC in the 41st minute, while Morgan Cave's blast in the 64th minute met the same fate for the Rattlers.

Finally, in the 88th minute, OC's Myah Buhler sent a long throw-in into the penalty box, where it pinballed around. Nixon got a foot on it and the ball went to Key, whose shot deflected off of Longford into the goal. It was Key's second career goal, with the other coming in her sophomore season in a loss to Texas Woman's.

"It's nice to get a goal for myself, but I'm just really excited for the team," said Key, a four-year starter at left back who rarely (if ever) exits the field. "We just needed it mentally. We needed to get the monkey off our back and move forward. … Now we can go celebrate."

Most of the Rattlers' shots were off target, meaning OC goalkeeper Addison Milner – the Heartland's leader in saves – needed to make only two on Thursday. Longford finished with seven saves for St. Mary's.

OC will host Texas A&M International at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Meagan Anderson and Chelsea Key discuss the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mu9V-7kW4U&feature=youtu.be