By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Once again, it was overtime heartbreak for William Carey University.
Only this time it wasn’t a golden goal but a penalty-kick shootout that denied the Lady Crusaders a second national title in the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championships at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
Tennessee Southern senior Lily Fisk scored in the seventh round of the PK shootout to win it for the Firehawks after the two teams were tied 3-3 following 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
UTS (23-1) won its third national championship, to go with titles won as Martin Methodist College in 2005 and 2007. Carey, the top-ranked team in NAIA all season, was denied an undefeated season and finished 22-1.
“It’s a terrible way to go out in the national championship finals,” said Carey coach Danny Owens. “That’s just how it is. They got one more in than we did.”
The Lady Crusaders started the game with a goal in the third minute of play, when senior Veronica Herrera headed in a free kick from Maria Corral Pinon. It was Herrera’s ninth goal of the season and Pinon’s 14th assist of the year.
“It was a free kick and Maria Pinon put it to the back side of the net,” said Herrera. “I was able to get the advantage over the (defender) and got my head on it.”
But the lead didn’t last long as the Firehawks came at Carey with speed and athleticism, and quickly tied the game as freshman Keito Ido scored her nation-leading 39th goal of the season on a pass down the left side from junior Yuki Watari.
“The biggest part is just communication,” said senior goalkeeper Jaina Eckert. “My back line made some amazing plays.
“Obviously, you have to give it to Tennessee Southern. They’re a fantastic team, especially offensively. They had some good opportunities and I had to make some good saves.”
UTS made it 2-1 in the 13th minute on an unassisted goal by Adisa Amang after the Lady Crusaders were caught napping on the defensive end.
“We wanted to keep them in front, but I thought we were too eager to win the ball in the first few minutes,” Owens said. “Once we settled in and kept them in check, I thought we defended spectacularly.”
UTS very nearly made it 3-1 just seconds later, when Watari had a look at an open net bounce off the right post.
But Carey tightened up on defense and senior Ana Paula Santos single-handedly got the Lady Crusaders back in the game with a marvelous move in the middle of the field to tie the game 2-2 in the 31st minute.
“I think that’s one thing that makes Carey different, we play the ball and move it around,” said Santos. “We have wonderful players who can team up for goals, or we can make individual plays to score goals to get us back in the game.”
Ten minutes later, Laia Sedo banged home a rocket from 25 yards out that UTS goalkeeper Gabby Kennedy was unable to reach, and Carey took a 3-2 lead into halftime. It was Sedo’s sixth goal of the season.
But the second half belonged mostly to the Firehawks, as they wore down the Carey defense with long-ball rushes, mostly down the right side, with Amang and junior Estelle Badoedana Ekada getting open looks.
And it was Ekada who finally cashed it in, scoring on a pass from Amang for the tying goal in the 70th minute.
Carey was fortunate to be tied, as UTS had numerous scoring opportunities thr9oughout the second half.
“We want to give credit to Tennessee Southern for the team they are,” said Herrera. “At the end, it was a battle and it went to PK. We both figured out how to play to get there.”
The Lady Crusader had one supreme opportunity with just seconds remaining in regulation, when junior Kauany Sousa floated a shot over Kennedy, who had fallen down. The ball bounced off the goal line, but stayed out of the goal.
“I thought it was in,” said Owens. “It was about a yard off, and I was hoping the spin would have been the other way to go in, but
William Carey had the better of play in both overtime periods, and even had a shot get into the net in the second OT in the 105th minute, when Sedo put in a shot on a pass from Santos. However, the Lady Crusaders were called for offside and goal was disallowed.
After Herrera put the first shot of the shootout in for Carey, Eckerd stopped the first shot for UTS, and the Lady Crusaders nailed the next two shots from Pinon and Santos.
“It’s mainly trying to stay zoned in, stay in and try to read the way the person is moving,” said Eckert. “But at the end of the day, when you’re closing your hips, it’s anybody’s game. Sometimes it just comes down to hitting the post, keeper making a good save.”
But Kennedy stopped three of the next four shots, and while Eckerd stopped Ido’s shot in the fifth round, the Firehawks hit their last two shots to claim the victory.
“It’s hard; it’s different,” said Santos, who finished the season with 25 goals and 13 assists this season, and 87 goals and 45 assists for her illustrious career at Carey.
“I feel like losing on PKs is a little bit different than losing in the actual game. PK’s is really just luck. You might have 10 PKs all season, then you come in and you have to make five.”
It was a bittersweet ending for Santos and Herrera, who plan to play professionally in Europe after the first of the year.
“I thought we played to win,” said Owens. “We left everything out there.
“It’s tough playing three games in five days. We had such a competitive quarterfinal and semifinal, and Tennessee Southern is an amazing team. They like to run, but I thought our girls dug in and played really well.”
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
