MARION — Through nearly 75 minutes of game time, the Marion Wildcats played South 7 leading Althoff even, but the Crusaders scored twice in the final five minutes to win 3-1 and eliminate any hopes the Wildcats had of sharing a conference title.

The fact Marion was tied late was a testament to senior goalkeeper Addi Wall, who made numerous saves to frustrate the powerful Crusaders.

Althoff grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half when freshman Claire Nash stole the ball and sent a laser into the upper corner of the net beyond Wall’s outstretched arms. The Crusaders had a chance to add to their lead late in the half, but wall knocked away Morgan Wagner’s shot.

Althoff’s 1-0 halftime lead disappeared less than a minute into the second half as Kyra Graham set up Margaux Bruce for the equalizer, and the home team was building confidence of avenging an earlier loss to the Crusaders.

Wall made two more dandy saves to keep it 1-1, but Natalie Cohn scored on a free kick with 5:17 to play. Nash added some insurance with her second goal of the day off a great set up by Emma Tell with 1:47 remaining.

The Crusaders improve to 15-5-2 (7-0) with the win. The Wildcats fall to 17-4 (4-2).