Both teams started off the match strong but no one could get on the board. It wasn't until the second half that Kat Paul broke that deadlock.
Paul received a pass from Rebecca Traynor and it wasn't long before she sent the ball sailing over the keepers head for a 1-0 Lady Vikings lead.
The Lady Vikings added the 1-2 punch and got on the board again and this time instead of helping on the play, Traynor scored one for herself off an assist from Angelica Navarro.
That 2-0 Lady Vikings lead turned into a 3-0 lead when Marissa Baldasti scored from a nice unselfish ball by Katie Ripple, who turned 16 on the day.
The Lady Vikings had clinched 1st Place in the district the previous week but this just put a stamp on the regular season improving to 12-2-2 and 5-0-1 in district play. That 1st place finish earned them the #1 seed in the TAPPS JV Championships as they will take on the #4 seed, Bishop Lynch, in Semi-Final #2 next Wednesday at 11:00am at Gateway Park. The championship match will be played at Nolan Catholic High School at 5:00pm that evening.
The varsity followed an impressive JV performance with one of their own, in front of another solid crowd.
The Lady Vikings took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jordan Gamboa early into the game and Gamboa nearly missed an opportunity to double that lead but the Ursuline goalkeeper made a solid save on a similar attempt.
Lady Bears, Madison Haley, evened the score midway through the opening half but the Lady Vikings fought their way back into the game and capitalized on a set-piece by Gabbie Puente, dipping a well struck ball over the outstretched hands of the Ursuline goalkeeper late in the half to put the Lady Vikings back on top just before the half, 2-1.
Holding that 2-1 advantage nearly the entire second half of play, Ursuline finally chipped away at the Lady Vikings and tied the score off a set-piece of their own scored by Katie Lund.
We were headed to overtime; Bonus Soccer is what that is called and that is exactly what it was. Last year they were able to pull off a win in the first overtime period off a Sarah Brown goal and this year was no different but a bit more dramatic.
"I don't think we wanted to lose the game, you could tell... too much work was put into the evening and we did a nice job of stayed on top of things," commented head coach Jay Fitzgerald.
And that, they did......and with 12 seconds remaining in the first golden goal overtime period, Gwennie Puente took a ball from Katy Hirschfeld and knifed her way through the Ursuline pressure before toing the ball just inside the post past the oncoming Ursuline goalkeeper.
Game over.
The Lady Vikings took the 3-2 overtime win, improving to 22-1-5 and will move on to the next game.
The next game happens to be the bi-district round of the TAPPS Playoffs which will begin a week from tomorrow, Friday, February 28th. The Lady Vikings will host the first round and will most likely be taking on Houston St. Pius X. and that game is scheduled to kick off at 2:00pm.
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