DANVILLE, Va. — Greensboro College's Allison Gibson scored the game-winning goal in the 89^th minute to defeat the Averett University women's soccer team 4-3 on Wednesday evening at Daly Field.
 
Averett (0-9, 0-4 USA South) struggled to capitalize on open looks at the net in the first period as Greensboro gained an early 2-0 lead, but a change of pace came in the second half for the Cougars.
 
In the 65^th minute, Averett sophomore Riley Smith scored her first goal of the season to put the Cougars within one. From inside the box and shortly following Annalies Jobsis' corner kick, Smith's boot found its way into the net after ricocheting off the crossbar.
 
The Cougars kept up their momentum as sophomore Johanna Orhnberg netted the ball on a high cross in the box from sophomore midfielder Ebonee Strother to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Averett then took its first lead of the season when senior Cathrine Onarheim dished the ball to freshman Amanda Gustavsson who battled in front of the net against Greensboro goalkeeper Jessica Thatcher as they both slid to ground fighting for possession of the ball. But Gustavsson prevailed and put the Cougars up 3-2 in the 75^th minute.
 
Greensboro (4-4-1, 2-1-1 USA South) answered shortly after to tie the game again at 3-3 when Melanie Raton scored on a feed from Lauren Greeson with 11 minutes left to play. Greeson tallied two assists for the Pride.
 
The teams fought for possession of the ball, and it seemed as though the game would go into overtime. However, the Pride attacked the net aggressively trying to get off a couple shots late in the game.
 
With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Gibson raced down the field dribbling the ball past Averett defenders and found herself in a one-on-one matchup with sophomore goalkeeper Kim Josephson. Josephson, who finished with 10 saves for the night including a few diving catches, didn't have the same luck with Gibson.
 
Josephson came to the top of the box to defend, and she dove as Gibson's strike flew into the net clinching the conference win for Greensboro.   
 
Averett travels to Staunton, Virginia, on Saturday to take on Mary Baldwin College at 2 p.m.