NAMPA, Idaho – For 99 minutes and 48 seconds Thursday, the Northwest Nazarene women's soccer team had been stymied.

The Nighthawks only had two shots on goal and had been under constant pressure from the Central Washington offense.

But forward Kaisa Tsuruta found Ashley Parton streaking toward the goal and the freshman scored with 2 seconds remaining to give NNU a 1-0 overtime victory against Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at NNU Field.

"I was just saying to myself, 'Just find the corners. Don't think about where the keeper is,'" Parton said. "I just wanted to finish it for this team and the coaches and everyone because we've been on a downhill lately and this changed everything."

The win ends a four-game losing streak for the Nighthawks (6-4-1 overall, 2-4-0 GNAC) and keeps their playoff hopes alive.

NNU has six matches remaining, though five are against the top three teams in the conference. That meant a win Thursday was necessary.

"It's huge," Tsuruta said. "It's so good. Now we are on a high and we can hopefully get it going."

Central recorded 10 shots on goal and had the Nighthawks on their heels most of the second half and overtime.

With the first overtime nearly over, Tsuruta won a ball past midfield and saw the defense playing up a bit and Parton out wide.

She chipped the defense and Parton ran onto the ball and hammered it in to the lower left corner of the net.

"Ashley is such a good athlete," NNU coach Mary Trigg said. "For her to be able to finish that as a freshman in overtime. That is a big deal."

It was Parton's third goal of the season and easily the biggest goal she's ever scored.

"It's big," she said. "It was kind of life or death. If we didn't win this one we might not be able to go to the postseason."

NNU hits the road Saturday to play at Saint Martin's.