MONMOUTH, Ore. – After 89 minutes of hard-fought, scoreless soccer on Thursday at the Western Oregon University Soccer Field, Montana State University Billings suffered a gut-wrenching 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference defeat as the host Wolves' Alyssa Tomasini found the back of the net with just 40 seconds left on the clock.
 
A last-ditch push forward by WOU wound up in a chaotic goal box, with players from both sides jockeying for position and Yellowjacket defenders getting tangled up on a cross in by Nikki Hoey. Tomasini was the first to reach the loose ball at the corner of the six-yard box, and pushed it past MSUB goalkeeper Erinn Harder for the game-winner.

"Giving up a goal with 40 seconds left is heartbreaking, but we need to bounce back and can't feel back about ourselves," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "Defensively we did a good job for the most part today. Defending crosses is something that we worked on a lot, and I was proud that we did a much better job dealing with corners and crosses than in our previous game."
 
The Yellowjackets lost their second straight match, and fell to 3-3-1 overall and 0-2 in conference play with the defeat. For WOU it was the first league win of the year, as it moved to 3-3-1 overall and 1-1 in GNAC play. The goal was Tomasini's second of the year, and it came on her fifth and final shot as she led all players in the match.
 
The Wolves out-shot the 'Jackets 12-6 in the game, and held a dominant margin of 7-0 in corner kicks. Harder finished the match with four saves, but stood no chance against the final attempt from point-blank range.
 
Cassidy O'Dell had a good look towards goal five minutes into the game, curling a shot just over the left corner of the frame after a pass from Courteney Shovlin.
 
The Wolves won a dangerous free kick just 20 yards from goal in the 14th minute after a hand ball, but a right-footed shot by Tomasini was lifted over the crossbar.
 
Senior Jordan Devoto nodded the Yellowjackets' first shot on goal of the game into the hands of WOU goalkeeper Alex Qualls, as she couldn't quite get full momentum behind the attempt with 15 minutes before halftime. Qualls made three saves in recording her second shutout of the year.
 
The Wolves took a 7-3 edge in shots over the first 45 minutes, and Sydney Thomas had the first good look of the second as her strong, low shot missed just wide of the far post in the 48th minute.
 
The MSUB defensive wall took care of another prime scoring chance for WOU midway through the second, as a free-kick shot by Selene Konyn was turned away before it could reach Harder at the goal line.
 
With just eight minutes remaining in regulation, Harder came through with a heads-up play to keep the game scoreless. After a clearance on an MSUB free kick, Kaili Brundage burst forward on a fast break and fed a through ball into the box. Harder was able to slide forward and secure the ball, as a WOU forward arrived moments later and just missed a chance at a shot.
 
Making one final push after conceding the late goal, MSUB got a final shot off but watched as a long attempt by Alexa Iacolucci carried high over the goal.
 
O'Dell was the lone 'Jacket with multiple shots in the game, and she had one of the team's three attempts that landed on target.

THE BUZZ: Sandow was tabbed the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 10-9-4 all-time against WOU and is 3-6-2 in road games against the Wolves…MSUB snapped a six-game unbeaten streak against the Wolves that dated back to the 2014 season…the teams appeared to be headed to overtime for the third straight match, as each of the last two meetings resulted in a draw.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets face No. 10 Concordia University, which topped Northwest Nazarene 1-0 Thursday, in a 2 p.m. Mountain time kickoff at Hilken Community Stadium in Portland. Live coverage will be available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
9-11-00	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0
9-13-07	Billings, MT	H	W	3-0
10-21-07	Monmouth, OR	A	L (OT)	3-2
10-4-08	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
10-23-08	Monmouth, OR	A	L	3-0
9-24-09	Monmouth, OR	A	W (2 OT)	2-1
10-31-09	Billings, MT	H	W	3-0
9-30-10	Billings, MT	H	W	2-0
10-23-10	Monmouth, OR	A	W	2-0
9-17-11	Monmouth, OR	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-13-11	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-6-12	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0
10-25-12	Monmouth, OR	A	L	2-1
10-5-13	Monmouth, OR	A	L	2-0
10-31-13	Billings, MT	H	L	3-2
9-18-14	Monmouth, OR	A	L	2-0
10-25-14	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
9-24-15	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
10-24-15	Monmouth, OR	A	W	1-0
9-22-16	Billings, MT	H	W	3-1
9-23-17	Monmouth, OR	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-12-17	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	0-0
9-20-18	Monmouth, OR	A	L	1-0