OMAHA, Neb. – A devastating way to lose.

The College of Saint Mary soccer team suffered a tough blow Wednesday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to Morningside University.

The Flames led 1-0 with just over a minute remaining in the game. But Morningside scored on a penalty kick with 1:01 left and then found a way to get the game winner with just 30 seconds remaining.

When the horn sounded the Flames were stunned as the Mustangs rushed the pitch.

"There's no other word than heartbreaking," CSM Coach Jordan Irsik said.

Neither team scored in the opening half.

College of Saint Mary took the early lead at 58:26 when Abbie Anderson sent in a free kick that was deflected to Kylie Anderson who finished for the goal. The Flames held on to that lead until 88:59.

"The ladies went in with a game plan and executed it exactly," Irsik said. "We fought so hard, played excellent defense, broke down their attack and earned our goal."

But the Mustangs fought until the very end.

Morningside's Tuva Hammarlund took advantage of a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1 with just 1:01 on the game clock.  Then Julie Raffel delivered the devastating shot when she found the back of the net on the right side at 89:30.

The Mustangs outshot CSM 17-5 in the game. CSM's Alivia Schade had seven saves.

"It's a cruel game," Irsik said. "They took two unfortunate situations with a minute left and that's the difference between us celebrating and how we are feeling now. I'm incredibly proud of what they put forth today, but sometimes it just isn't meant to be. We've been on the other side of this type of result, and it's heartbreaking to feel this way now.

"We'll get rested for playoffs with a massive chip on our shoulders and fire in our bellies. We'll bounce back ready to go. I know this will drive us in playoffs."

The Flames drop to 5-4-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and 7-5-5 overall. Morningside improves to 6-3-2, 9-4-3.

CSM must now wait to see how other GPAC games play out today and Saturday before learning their playoff fate.