The Paly Girls’ soccer team faced off against Alisal High School in the quarterfinal round of Central Coast Section [CCS] this morning. A tied score at the end of regulation led the teams into two ten minute halves of overtime and then onto Penalty Kicks [PK’s].
Despite numerous shots on goal during the first half, the Lady Vikes and the Trojans were unable to hit the back of the net.
Around 25 minutes into the second half, Jacey Pederson (‘16) fouled an Alisal player just outside the penalty box. The Trojans scored off of the free kick by sending the ball forcefully to the left side of the net, putting Alisal in the lead.
The Lady Vikes bounced back quickly by scoring a goal just minutes later. Katie Foug (‘15) scored by rebounding Sunny Lyu’s (‘14) shot on goal.
Regulation ended with the score tied at 1-1. The teams then went on to play two halves of over time. Despite many shots during overtime, neither team could get one in. Just minutes before the overtime ended, Paly subbed goalie Dhara Yu (‘17) out and put Kelly Branson (‘16) in to prepare for PK’s.
After overtime, both Alisal and Paly were forced to choose five players each to participate in PK’s. In this order Paly chose: Lyu, Pederson, Aoi Sugihara (‘15), Natalie Maloney (‘17), and Olivia Musil (‘15). Paly’s goalie was Kelly Branson (’16).
The Lady Vikes were up first. Lyu stepped up and made her shot by passing the ball to the right corner of the net.
Alisal was up next. The Trojan player shot too high and the ball deflected off of the cross bar. The PK score was 1-0.
Pederson followed and scored again for the Vikings, passing the ball to the right corner.
Alisal was up next and made its first shot, bringing the PK score to 2-1.
Up next, Sugihara made her shot for Paly by passing the ball to the right corner of the goal.
An Alisal player then shot and missed wide right. Paly was ahead 3-1 with two shots left. Alisal, having already missed two goals, brought Paly one shot away to claim victory.
Maloney lofted the ball into the left corner of the goals to clinch the win for the Vikings, moving them on to CCS Semifinals.
The Vikings were well prepared for the PK’s having practiced them every day for the past two weeks.
“Coach Eric had the team prepared for PK’s and that was the difference in the game…Today it paid off,” head coach Kurt Devlin said.
Co-captain Megan Tall (‘14) thinks that her team played a good game overall.
“I think we dominated the game throughout,” Tall said.
The Lady Vikes will continue its CCS playoff run by playing Wednesday, March 5th against an undetermined opponent in the semi-final round.
For a video of the PK shoot-out go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z91TBdfUGPY
