Kinner’s OT goal brings girls soccer its first District Championship since 2011
May 24, 2021
The Lady Lancers had been down twice on May 20 against Eureka. First, they were down 1-0, and then were down again 2-1. But for this team, a comeback was inevitable.
Girls soccer Head Coach Melissa Schroeder said, “We’ve been with our backs against the wall before, several times throughout the season, and we continue to fight back. And you know, you can’t ever count us out just like we proved on Tuesday [against Marquette]. [We scored the tying goal with] 40 seconds left, and then again, scored in overtime with, what, 20 seconds left. And then now I think there was two minutes left on this [winning goal].”
The game between the two rivals lasted about 108 minutes, whereas a normal game ends in just 80 minutes. For this, the team needed to dig deeper and look to what’s inside themselves.
“We’ve been focusing on, A not getting outworked and, B playing for what’s underneath our jersey, which is our hearts. And I think it came down to it tonight. The emotions are always there,” Schroeder said.
Nearing the 108th minute of play, freshman Emily Derucki had an open lane to goal with fellow freshman Allie Kinner running alongside her. Derucki took the open shot which bounced off the post, but Kinner was there for the rebound to kick the ball in and seal the win for the Lancers.
“It felt great. I really wanted it,” Kinner said.
Back on the defensive end of the field, junior goalkeeper Sadie Wolf held off six Eureka shots including a few nail biters that could have gone either way.
“I could just tell we all had the energy and we all wanted to be here. And it was just different than even the Marquette game. We all took it seriously. I knew everyone wanted this as bad as I did,” Wolf said.
Being a goalkeeper in any sport comes with certain pressures, but Wolf trusts in her teammates to play to their abilities and give her the best chance to make saves.
“Stepping on the field with them, I’m so confident with them in front of me. I knew from the first two minutes we were gonna get this one and we were gonna work hard and we were just gonna grind and get the win no matter what,” Wolf said.
The Lancers travel to take on Nerinx Hall Tuesday, May 25 at 4:30 p.m. in the Sectional matchup. The team lost a regular season game against Nerinx, 3-1, but has recently avenged two prior losses to both Marquette and Eureka and is looking to add another to that list.
