By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – With their respective seasons on the line, William Carey University and Columbia (Mo.) College played 110 minutes and seven rounds of penalty kicks worth of soccer brinksmanship, with neither side giving an inch.
But on the eighth round of the overtime shootout, Carey goalkeeper Marlen Klem made a critical save to keep the Lady Crusaders’ season alive in the second round of the NAIA Women’s National Soccer Tournament Saturday at Danny Owens Field.
Officially, the outcome goes in the books as a 0-0 tie, with WCU winning the penalty kick shootout 7-6. NAIA fifth-ranked Carey (16-2-2) advances to the Women’s Soccer National Championship at Orange Beach, Ala. No. 11 Columbia finished its season 17-3-2.
“In a shootout, it’s anybody’s game,” said Carey head coach Danny Owens. “We lost the national championship game last year on penalties, so we’ve spent the past three or four weeks working on them and changed up what we do.
“So credit to the girls and credit Marlen with the two saves. But we definitely don’t want to have to do that again.”
William Carey dominated play through both halves and the two overtime periods, with 26 shots to just 3 for the Cougars, and WCU had a 9-1 edge in shots on goal.
But CC employed a sound defensive stance in the front third of the field, continually frustrating the Lady Crusaders and denying any long shots.
“We were able to get out and get pressure on them, but, man, we just could not find a clean shot,” said Owens.
“We were looking at the stats, and all year they have not given up a lot of shots, and you could tell why. They didn’t dive in, they were very organized, very disciplined. I thought their spacing was superb and they have a great goalkeeper. Defensively, they were very tough.”
Klem, a junior from Sweden, had almost nothing to do in the first half, facing no shots at all, and she easily handled any challenges when the Cougars increased their pressure in the second half.
“They got some pressure; they did that well,” said Klem. “They tried to get the ball from us when we had it in the back. But I think we moved the ball really good and we were able to play through the pressure.”
Credit goes to the Carey back line, which made Klem’s job easier. Senior Kaylie Agostine and junior Chloe Strickland keyed the effort in the middle of the backfield in front of their keeper.
“The back line stayed solid,” said Strickland, who played the entire 110 minutes. “We talked, we moved the ball well and didn’t let anything in. We did our part in the game.
“We held them outside the zone. I think the only real chances they had were the corner kicks, and they only had a couple of those.”
Scoring chances were few and far between for Carey, but the best opportunity came in the 23rd minute when junior Maria Azarias got a shot on net off a free kick in the middle of the field.
Cougar goalkeeper Victoria Heus was up to that challenge and every other challenge she faced throughout the game.
Carey’s best chance in the second half came in the final five minutes of regulation, when junior Kauany Sousa got two shots off corner kicks, but Heus made the save on both shots.
Carey had two good shots in the first overtime period, with Azarias and junior Fernanda Pena Nieto getting shots on goal midway through the period, but neither team mounted much offense in the second overtime.
Azarias led Carey with 6 shots and 4 shots on goal, Nieto had 4 shots, 3 on goal and senior Camila Pescatore had 4 shots.
“It was really tough playing that long and being active, so I felt pretty tired, to be honest,” said Klem. “But I felt well-prepared. I actually love penalties and I felt confident going in.”
Each team converted their first two shots in the shootout, with Sousa and Pescatore scoring for Carey.
But in the third round, Azarias banged her shot off the crossbar, putting extra pressure on Klem. And she responded, diving to her left to block a shot by CC senior Brooke Schneider.
“You always have a tactic when it comes to penalties, whether you want to read or if you know where you want to go,” said Klem. “So I try to get there as early as possible, and if I’m lucky I’ll get a hand on it.”
The next four rounds were even with each team making their shots. Sophomore Valeria Barajas, senior Alexis Arnoult, Nieto and Strickland each converted for the Lady Crusaders.
“It’s so nerve-wracking,” said Strickland. “But you’ve just got to be confident, know you can make it and push through the nerves.”
For the eighth round, Owens sent out little-used freshman Virginia Mesa to take the shot and she rewarded his faith by burying a low shot into the net.
“She’s just been scoring all of them in training,” said Owens. “Again, we’ve been doing this for the past three or four weeks, and she hasn’t missed the whole time. So we wanted to go with some of our best shooters, and she’s one of them.”
Junior Maddy Schrader sent her shot to the left side of the net and Klem guessed correctly, diving to her right to swat away the attempt and set off a celebration for the Carey side.
“The last one was a really good stretch,” said Klem. “I’m very proud of that one. That’s when I’m having the most fun, when all the pressure is on.”
The Women’s National Championships begin Nov. 29 with opening round action. The Lady Crusaders, seeded fifth in the 10-team championship field, will open play at 10 a.m. on Dec. 1 against Spring Arbor (Mich.).
“It’s exciting,” said Strickland. “We’ve fought all season for this.”
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
