Winning their bracket with scores of 6-1 and 4-0, the semi-final and championship were a little different. Head Coach, Jay Fitzgerald mentioned, "We had a relentless competitive spirit, something we are obviously capable of but I haven't seen from this group but not consistently. We can win any game we play."
The semi-final match up against Bonita Vista was a back and forth affair with the Lady Vikings scoring first with Abby Geiser feeding a ball across to Mikaela Gamboa hammering home the eventual game-winner. Team defending backed up by goalkeeper, Avery Boley kept the shutout and the berth into the championship match the following morning.
The Lady Vikings took to the town for some sight-seeing and a nice dinner to keep their minds right for the championship. Fitzgerald continued, "It was a special evening for our team, the social media takeover, the bonding, and family atmosphere put us in a good place."
A post-Christmas training session at Oceanside High School started the week for the Lady Vikings and a championship match at Oceanside High School ended the week for the Lady Vikings.
Going down early in the match, the Lady Vikings fought right back with another combination between Geiser and Gamboa. Geiser was right where she needed to be to equalize. This was the first goal that Mission Hills has conceded all year. The relentless spirit that Fitzgerald mentioned earlier in the week proved to be evident once again. This team was not going to lose this match.
Fitzgerald on his teams spirit....
When we didn't have the ball, we wanted to get it back and when we did have the ball we went at them. Our transition played a huge part in our success this week. We all played a part in defending and attacking whether on the field or off the field.
Another end to end match and despite losing a couple players to injury, everyone stepped up and fought through different roles.
Neither team would surrender another goal through regulation and the match would head to overtime, golden goal overtime. Earlier in the year, the Lady Vikings gave up an early goal in overtime and that was not going to happen again. The first 10 minutes saw the Lady Vikings in the half of Mission Hills for the entire half other then one counter that caromed off the post.
The second overtime was more like regulation, end to end but still no team was able to score. This match was going to be decided from the penalty spot.
Fitzgerald on the shootout...
Confidence was all I saw from our five shooters, a couple that have never taken a penalty shot. Our goalkeeper has never been in a shootout and she made a save and forced one over the bar.
Allee Kimmey put the Lady Vikings ahead and Abbey Button stepped up and scored the game winner on the last shot to win 4-2. Abby Geiser and Meghan Kittleson also scored on their attempts.
"This was a huge step for our program, we got everything out of this trip that we wanted. We are closer as a group and what a way to end 2017 heading into the grind of the next 2 months," Fitzgerald remarked.
The Lady Vikings will now prepare for hosting their own national event starting on Thursday, the National Elite Prep Showcase. The nations #6 team and 2017 UIL State Finalist, Keller is the lady Vikings first opponent at 1:00pm on Thursday with Buchholtz from Florida the next day, finishing with Odessa.
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