One would think a penalty kick shootout would be a soccer goalkeeper’s biggest nightmare. But not for Lexington girls coach Roxanne Drueschler – and certainly not for her Lady Lex players.
That’s because Lexington used the PK shootout again Monday night in stunning top-seeded Clear Fork in the Ohio Cardinal Conference semifinals – just four nights after ousting Ashland the same way.
That experience, and recent success, was all Lexington needed to outscore the Colts 4-1 in the shootout after the game ended in a 3-3 tie after 90 minutes on the pitch.
The win moves Lexington (4-8-3) into the tournament finals on Thursday night Wooster, which topped West Holmes, 1-0, on Monday night. Clear Fork (9-4), unbeaten in the OCC regular season, hosts West Holmes that night.
“I told the girls we have been here before. Strike the ball with confidence and hit it strong. Hit your spots and we will be fine,” said Drueschler, a Lex alum and former high school goalkeeper. “The girls were ready. We practice it all the time.”
Despite her own high school background in the net, Drueschler smiled and said she loves (and loved) PK shootouts. “Oh, it’s the best part,” she said. “I enjoyed the challenge of it.”
In the shootout, Lexington kicked first. Hannah Schaefer nailed the ball past CF keeper Morgan Bailey, finding the top of the net on the left. Clear Fork’s Deijah Swihart, a two-team All-Ohio selection,was unlucky when her shot bounced off the goal post on the right, giving Lex a 1-0 lead.
In the second round, Lexington’s Allie Gottschling found the net low on the right side, sneaking it past a diving Bailey. Bailey shot second for Clear Fork and narrowed the Lex lead to 2-1, slamming the ball to the right as Lex goalkeeper Megan Weiss sprawled the other way.
In the third round, Chloe Buchanan matched Gottschling with a low ball into the right corner, again slipping it under a diving Bailey. Clear Fork’s MacKenzie Golden nailed a shot seemingly headed into the top of the net in the center, but the 5-foot-8 Weiss punched it harmlessly over the bar.
That put the game on the foot of Emily Stevens, who responded with a game winner into the left side of the net. That put Lex up 4-1 in penalty kicks with the Colts having only two shots left.
It was a painful loss for the Colts (9-4), who outshot Lexington 20-13, in the game and had several near goals in the first half before settling for a 2-1 halftime lead.
“This game haunts us,” said Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel, a Clear Fork alum and a member of the first Colts team to advance to the regionals in 2000. She took over the CF program in 2006. “We have been the top seed and lost at this stage a few times.
“(Losing) this game usually wakes us up and recharges us,” said Bechtel, who has led the last two Clear Fork teams into the regionals. “I am glad it happened now instead of the (OHSAA) tournament. I tell our girls all the time we don’t want it to come down (to a shootout). We want to win the game on the field. We just didn’t get that done tonight.”
Early in the game, it looked like Clear Fork, which had beaten Lady Lex, 5-0, during the season, was on its way again. Senior Ali Johnson scored on a cross just 92 seconds into the game, putting the Colts up 1-0.
Lady Lex tied it with 18:49 left in the half on a penalty kick by Gottschling after the Colts fouled a Lexington player in the box. But Clear Fork claimed a 2-1 edge at the intermission when Taylor Hetsler dropped a ball over the head of Weiss and into the net off a direct kick just outside the box with 1:38 left.
Lady Lex tied the score at 2-2 less than six minutes into the second half on a direct kick by Schaefer following a Clear Fork foul outside the box. Lexington then took its first lead at 3-2 with just 3:18 left to play when Olivia Depperschmidt rolled a shot into the right corner on a crossing pass from Buchanan.
Rather than panic, Clear Fork rallied and tied the score with 1:25 left on a goal by all-district performer Jordyne Helinski, taking a great pass from Swihart.
“I am proud of the girls for coming back and forcing the overtime. It’s too bad we didn’t play the entire 80 minutes with the same fire we had at the end. Three goals should be enough to win. We were on our heels too often and were ball watchers too many times,” Bechtel said.
Drueschler said the biggest difference Monday night from the drubbing the Colts handed her team earlier this season was easy to see.
“All my girls were healthy tonight. I could substitute and we didn’t lose two starters to the hospital in the first half,” Drueschler said. “The first half was wide open and we were looking to score more. At halftime, we got organized in the midfield and were able to slow things down.”
