Published: October 13, 2007 11:38 pm            

GIRLS SOCCER: Survive and advance

Wildkats edge NCC rivals to claim sectional championship

Kokomo’s girls soccer team needed just one moment to make all the effort of Saturday afternoon’s Kokomo Sectional championship game worthwhile. The Kats swam upstream nearly all game, fighting against the current of waves of Logansport attacks, but despite the pressure against them a single opportunity turned the game.

The Kats found the net in the 26th minute on a goal by Casey Connor, and made it stick in a 1-0 victory over Logan. Victory was sweet for Kokomo, which beat Logan in the regular season, but was still smarting from last season’s loss to the Berries in the sectional title game.

“It’s a great feeling because they took us out of the sectional last year, so it’s just amazing to be able to beat them again,” Wildkat defender Mary Lang said.

Kokomo’s victory in the title game looked improbable early on. Logan pinned Kokomo back with a series of dangerous chances in transition, forcing Kat goalie Kristen Clason into five saves in the opening 13 minutes. Kokomo rarely threatened in the first half. Connor’s goal was one of only two Kat shots before halftime. Logan had plenty of chances, but never found the net.

“It’s just an awesome victory,” Kokomo coach Myles Geary said. “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever coached in [that], maybe they don’t have the most ability that I’ve ever coached, but they’ve got the biggest hearts.”

The Wildkats needed strong tickers to endure. Logan forced Clason into a dozen stops in the first half alone. Clason finished with 18 saves and saw several others go high or wide.

A heavy silence fell over the Logan players as they packed up to leave following the game. They’d done nearly everything right and yet didn’t walk away with the hardware.

“We’ve just struggled getting the ball in the net,” Berry coach Todd Reiff said. “We had a practice [Friday] night where the girls were just ripping shots in the net, I mean busting it. So I felt pretty confident that we were going to find the net a number of times.

“We worked hard for their offside trap, I thought we handled that pretty well. I don’t know how you get 35 shots on goal and one of them doesn’t slip in. I think their goalkeeper’s pretty good, but we made her look really, really, really good.”

Clason was always well-positioned to stop Logan when the Berries’ swift counterattacks put shooters in position to score.

“Kristen Clason was amazing back there,” defender Lang said. “She had everything, she was on everything. She came prepared and ready.”

The Wildkats endured pressure and made the most of a sudden opportunity in the 26th minute. Lang thumped a long free kick up to the Wildkat forward line, the ball banged around for a moment before Kokomo’s Brittney Hildebrand poked a pass to Connor that set the her up for a shot at the edge of the 18-yard box. Connor fired low to the left and billowed the net for her 22nd goal of the season.

“When we got the goal, we were really back on our heels quite a bit and they [Logan] had the bigger and better attacks,” Geary said. “Casey just threaded a ball just beautifully and it wouldn’t have happened without Brittney. She just kept going for it and going for it and going for it and just getting her foot on the ball.”

It was what the Kats needed, not just for the dent on the scoreboard, but the emotional jolt it gave them.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Clason. “They stepped out of their comfort zone with how they played. At first we had some girls that were stabbing for the ball and weren’t playing the way they’re used to because of the nerves and you get really excited. But after we got that goal, that really kind of put everything in perspective, and we got on it. We started playing like we were in the sectional championship.”

After the goal, Logan’s pressure continued. The Berries’ last mouth-watering opportunity came with 20 minutes left. A pass put Logan’s Shannon Jennings through deep in the box but Clason stonewalled her. After that, the Kats limited threats on Clason’s goal and mounted more attacks as they iced off the game.

“They put a lot of pressure on us,” Lang said. “But we just held our own back there and gave everything we had. We used a lot of heart this game and I think that’s what really paid off.”

Logan goalie Elyssa Christensen made two saves.

Kokomo (12-7) advances to face West Lafayette (17-2) in Wednesday’s Logansport Regional. Logan ended the season 11-4-2.

        

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