GOLDEN, Colo. - Peyton Sanders' golden goal pushed #6 Colorado School of Mines to the NCAA South Central regional title and an appearance in the quarterfinals as the Orediggers beat Texas A&M-Commerce, 2-1.

Mines (20-2-1) will move on to the NCAA quarterfinals to face #1 Western Washington, who were also overtime winners by a 2-1 score against #9 UC-San Diego in the West region final. That game will take place Sunday at noon at Stermole Stadium, with the winner heading to the Final Four in Kansas City.

Both of Mines' goals came off of Emily Garnier free kicks. The regional player of the year created the game's first score with 1:48 left in the first half, sending in a long kick from midfield that Taylor McRae headed home to lead 1-0. It was a deserved goal after Mines outshot the Lions (15-6-1) by a 12-3 margin in the first half.

Commerce answered back in the 77th minute on a set piece of their own. Mines was whistled for an unlucky handball at the top of the box, and Lone Star Conference Player of the Year Vicky Back make no mistake as she rifled a low free kick past the wall to level the game at 1-1.

That sent the game to overtime, where a virtually identical goal to their first won it for Mines. Garnier lofted a free kick from midfield, and Sanders played the offside trap perfectly, getting behind the defense to head home 4:10 into the extra period.

NOTABLES
- Mines advances to the quarterfinals for the fifth time in program history, all since 2009. They improved to 10-6-7 all-time in NCAA play. 
- The Orediggers outshot the Lions 21-7 for the game. Mines had a 5-4 edge on corners.
- Sam Zumbro made a pair of saves for her 20th win, a team record. Mines' 20th win of the season sets a program team record, as well.
- Caitlin Duty had six saves for TAMC.
- McRae potted her seventh goal of the season. Sanders' was her third. 
- Garnier's two assists take her to 10 for the year, making her only the third Oredigger to reach double-digit assists in a season along with former All-Americans Megan Woodworth and Anna Evans.
- Anna Deleray was the most active Oredigger offensively with four shots, including a bid late in regulation that tested Duty. Haley Cole took three shots.
- It was Mines' third overtime win in five tries this season. The Orediggers are 3-1-1 in extra time games.
- The overtime win was Mines' second in NCAA Championship play; they beat Minnesota State Mankato 1-0 in the 2011 Second Round.
- Mines ran its home unbeaten streak to 20 games dating back to 2015.
- Mines and Texas A&M-Commerce met for the third straight year in the NCAA Championship and second time in three years in the South Central final. Mines advanced on penalty kicks in the 2014 meeting and 2-1 in last year's First Round.
- The Orediggers will bid to make their second Final Four appearance in three years with a win on Sunday.

QUOTABLES
"Western Washington is #1 in the country, #1 in their region... But we're going to enjoy today and tomorrow at noon we'll starting looking forward to Sunday." - Coach Kevin Fickes on the quarterfinal match-up with Western Washington

"I tried to drop it in between where the goalkeeper can get it and the backs can get it, and then just hope my teammates could get to it. They're usually pretty courageous about getting after it." - Garnier on the free kick strategy

"I was onsides, I just stayed where I was... when I turned I saw the 'keeper running at me and everyone was screaming. I didn't even see it go in." - Sanders on her overtime winner

WEST REGIONAL FINAL
In the West regional final, #1 Western Washington needed Gabriela Pelogi's golden goal to advance over #9 UC San Diego. UCSD took a 1-0 first-half lead on Jordyn McNutt's tight-angle shot, but Pelogi scored a beauty in the 53rd minute before converting Taylor Hallquist's long pass forward 2:03 into overtime. WWU led 17-9 on shots.