FORT WORTH, TX - 87 minutes into a rain-soaked night, Texas Wesleyan Women's Soccer (11-4, 6-1 SAC) faced one more hurdle. After pulling ahead 2-1 on a Tameir Gorsvenor penalty kick - a goal which tied the program record for most career goals (74) - and fending off John Brown's (10-3-1, 5-1 SAC) relentless second-half charge, the near-victory was postponed: lightning. 

40 minutes later after plenty more raindrops fell, TXWES closed out the upset of the No. 6 team in the NAIA and knocked JBU from its undefeated Sooner Athletic Conference perch, a 2-1 triumph for the Lady Rams that vaults the hometown team into first place with two games to go.

"It was a big win tonight," said Head Coach Josh Gibbs. "I am very proud of the girls. They fought through some very tough conditions against an incredible team. John Brown is so well-coached and very talented in every spot on the field. The girls did such a great job rising to the challenge and taking the opportunity in front of them. We will enjoy this tonight before turning our attention to a very tough Wayland team. They gave us our only conference loss last season and Tuesday is Senior Day (for them) so the stakes are high. I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Texas Wesleyan has the Golden Eagles number as of late. Last season, the Rams went to John Brown and stole a 1-0 win from JBU, helping TXWES claim the SAC regular season title. They earned the first win over the Golden Eagles in Fort Worth Friday night since 2011.

It wasn't a normal evening, not by any stretch. With rain pouring down, massive puddles trapped fans in their cars, soccer balls knocked off the turf playing surface at Polytechnic High School just off campus would splash and sink in puddles and the sheets of rain that came down at an angle helped make conditions at times feel unbearable. Oddly enough, both teams found more of an offensive rhythm with the rain at their faces, not at their backs. 

Into the rain in the first half, the Lady Rams out-shot the Golden Eagles 6-3, including Savanna Barron's shot and score in the 13th minute. Danielle Trought flicked a ball through the back line of JBU's defense and after Grosvenor got a piece of it guiding to the foot of Barron, Barron used a left heel to flick the ball across the face of goal, dinging the shot off the bottom of the right post and in. It was the first goal scored on John Brown in conference play and the first goal allowed by the Eagles in the last 642 minutes of action.

Grosvenor's penalty came off an aggressive attack from Taylor Ross, who was fouled from behind as she created offense in a breakaway roughly ten yards out. Grosvenor beamed the PK into the upper left-hand corner where no goalie could ever reach in the 23rd minute.

While John Brown's only goal came in the first half - a successful shot from Emily Jordan, assisted by Anne Metz in the 21st minute, JBU owned the second half into the rain with an 8-2 shot advantage. But almost none were on target as the Golden Eagles for much of the night seemed unable to find the right spot on the ball to make full contact, often spraying shots well wide of the net. Metz, who leads JBU in goals scored this season, managed just two shots, neither of which found the target.

Julia Soriano helped the Lady Rams back line in the absence of Savannah Hart and Trout bullied JBU in the midfield. Kaitlyn Finger provided valuable minutes off the bench as TXWES' only reserve who saw action in the match.

The entire night, the ball skipped across the turf like a stone on a lake and both goalkeepers handled high bounces and fast-moving skipped-ball crosses like champions. The Lady Rams will have to play like champions down the stretch if they want to win another regular season title. TXWES is 6-1 in conference, with John Brown and University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma, 5-1. The three teams all beat each other this season but both the Drovers and the Golden Eagles currently own goal differential tiebreakers.

The Lady Rams will face Wayland Baptist on Senior Day Tuesday October 29 before heading out to face Mid-America Christian, winners of five straight, Saturday November 2.