NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (D9Sports) — Soccer can be a beautiful game. It can also be a cruel game.
(Photo of Redbank Valley’s Brooke Eberle, who had the Bulldogs goal in a shootout loss to Port Allegany Monday. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
Through 110 minutes of play Monday afternoon at chilly Redbank Valley, the host Lady Bulldogs and visiting Port Allegany Lady Gators were deadlocked at one goal apiece in the District 9 Class 1A girls’ quarterfinals.
That mean a shootout would determine which team went to the semifinals and which team’s season was over.
And through the first five shooters, the teams were still even — three shootout goals apiece — meaning whichever team blinked first would lose.
Unfortunately for the hosts, that team was Redbank Valley when Cailey Barnett stopped Teja Hageter shot to give Port Allegany the victory 1-1 (4-3 in penalties).
The Barnett save came moments after Patt Todd had given the Lady Gators the lead in the shootout with a shot that ticked off Redbank Valley keeper Alena Keller and into the net.
Redbank Valley played basically the entire shootout from behind.
After Rylie Lawton, whose goals midway through the 63rd minute of the 80-minute regulation contest tied the contest, missed on the opening shootout attempt, Redbank Valley’s Rhiannon Laughlin also couldn’t connect on her shot.
Port Allegany then took a 1-0 lead in the shootout on a goal by Bree Garzel before Brooke Eberle, who had given Redbank Valley a 1-0 lead with a tally late in the 39th minute, knotted the shootout at one apiece.
The Lady Gators then went up 2-1 on a Kristen Dunn tally before Megan Gourley misfired for Redbank Valley.
Keller kept the Lady Bulldogs alive when she stopped Samantha Tanner, and Keller then tied the game herself when she beat Barnett.
With just one shooter remaining in the initial round of the shootout, Barnett scored for Port Allegany before senior Molly Nolf kept the game alive for Redbank Valley.
That sent the game into the do-or-die portion of the shootout where Todd came up with the game winner.
“Just don’t miss,” Todd said when asked what was going through her mind. “I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t my best shot ever. I was just amazed that it went in.”
Watch Todd’s thoughts on the victory.
For his part, Redbank Valley coach Michael Dawson said his message to his team heading into the shootout was a simple one.
“I told them the last two years we have been in the same situation at tournaments and we walked away with two wins out of it,” Dawson said. “I told the first five that walked out there, take care of it, and they did. I had the second five ready to go. It was just do-or-die.”
Redbank Valley seemed to be the stronger team early and had the first three good chances of the opening half including an early Nolf shot that went over the crossbar and an opportunity by Eberle just over eight minutes into the game that was just wide right.
Port Allegany had a couple of good chances in the opening half as well including a breakaway opportunity by Emma Fox and another shot by Todd that Eryn Bailey was able to block down.
Finally, the Lady Bulldogs broke through which just 1:08 left when a loose ball right along the goal line was kicked in by Eberle to give Redbank Valley a 1-0 halftime lead.
“I told them (at halftime) to keep the aggression up and the pace we were playing with,” Dawson said. “Credit to (Port Allegany) they came out with a lot more behind them and the momentum kind of shifted their way in the second half.”
Big mo most certainly did belong to the Lady Gators after the break with pretty much all of the good scoring chances in the half going to Port Allegany, including the Lawton goal on a free kick from 35 yards away.
Lawton had a chance on another free kick about 14 minutes after her game-tying goal to put Port Allegany into the lead, but this time Keller was able to get to the ball and preserve the tie.
Port Allegany had another chance right at the horn in regulation from Barnett but Keller was again able to stop it to force overtime.
Redbank Valley seemed to regain some of its mojo early in the first extra session and had a corner about two minutes into overtime that failed to connect.
Port Allegany then started to shift momentum its was and had three strong opportunities in the overtime, including this shot from Fox that Keller saved.
Perhaps the Lady Gators best opportunity of the first overtime came on a Barnett header off a corner that just went over the bar.
Port Allegany controlled most of the play in the second overtime, but Redbank Valley did have a strong chance from Eberle that was just wide of the target.
Not long after Eberle’s chance, Barnett, who started the game in net before moving into the field in the second half, had a breakaway chance but Quinn Fricko raced back to break up the play.
While Redbank Valley took the loss, the future looks bright for the Lady Bulldogs, who lose just two seniors — Keller and Nolf — from this year’s team.
“We knew at the beginning of the year it would be a struggle age-wise and grade-wise,” Dawson said. “So, to see where they went from in August to where they got to now is refreshing to see.”
The Redbank Valley skipper likes the direction his team appears headed.
“We are going to keep building,” Dawson said. “The last couple of years, we have seen a lot more (players) who do travel leagues, indoor leagues. As long as we can keep that up, we will keep growing the program.”
While Dawson likes his team’s direction, he also acknowledged losing Keller and Nolf won’t be easy.
“It will be tough to find replacements for them,” Dawson said. “It just sucks that we couldn’t get them a couple of more games. They meant a lot because we were so young. They stepped up and helped lead us to where we needed to be.”
