Paige Drenth secured the golden goal overtime winner for the Red Raiders Saturday as they beat the York Panthers 2-1 on a hot Saturday afternoon. 

The game time of 1pm created a hot environment for both teams at temperatures rose into the upper 90's. The start of the game reflected the heat as both squads were a bit sluggish to begin with. 

The Raiders broke through though in the 30th minute when Northwestern earned a corner and saw Cherish Henry jump in a challenge the initial cross which went off the the York defender and into the net. 

The Panthers would answer back in the 38th minute when Breanna Bembenek broke through the Raider back line and got into a 1v1 situation with Destinee Montenegro and buried the chance to even the game.

The second half saw both teams buckle down and limit their opponent's chances. Neither team was able to get a good sniff at goal in the 2nd half or the 1st OT. 

The 2nd OT started off fast and furious as both teams were hunting for a win. Each team had a few good build ups and chances and the Raiders earned a free kick at half that was hit on frame by Maddie Jacob. The keeper deflected the ball out for a corner and NIkky Farnsworth sprinted to take the corner. 

The initial ball popped back out to Farnsworth who put another cross in where a scramble for the ball saw Paige Drenth hit a half volley just out of arm's length for the keeper and into the back of the net. It was Drenth's first goal on the year.

The Raiders move to 1-5 on the year after facing a tough non-conference schedule.

"Our non-conference schedule was a brutal challenge for our gals," commented head coach Ben Karnish. "It was great to get a win before the hard GPAC schedule begins and to do so in a game where we needed to work 110 minutes means a lot to the ladies. Hopefully we can use this to our advantage as we face Jamestown Wednesday."

The Red Raiders start off their conference slate Wednesday at 5pm against the University of Jamestown at the NWC Soccer Complex.