EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Trying to get the ball in the Dodge City net from inside the box proved to be difficult Thursday in the regular season finale for the Lady Redskins, so they decided to shoot from outside. It worked, and the Lady Redskins upset the Western Athletic Conference champion Lady Red Demons 2-1 in double overtime.
After a scoreless first half, the Lady Redskins couldn’t get clean shot on goal for the first 25 minutes of the second half, and the Lady Red defense didn’t allow any breakaway opportunities for Dodge City, either.
But a foul about 30 yards away form the goal gave the Lady Redskins a chance to set up a play in front of the Dodge City goal. Instead of local for a pass to a teammate, Nicole Catalan decided to float a shot to the goal, and she lofted the ball high to the left side of the net out of the reach of the Dodge city keeper for a 1-0 Liberal lead.
But two minutes later, Liberal was called for a foul inside their own box, and Dodge City made the Lady Redskins pay with a penalty kick goal.
Neither side was able to score before time expired in regulation, and even though Dodge City had the wind advantage in the first overtime, they could not score.
Liberal had a corner kick with less than three minutes remaining in double overtime, and Dodge City was called for a foul in the box.
But the Dodge City keeper blocked the penalty kick shot, and the game continued.
But Dodge City was called for another foul about 25 yards out near the sideline and Catalan once again sent a shot toward the Red Demon goal. The ball glanced off the keeper’s hands, off the top crossbar and down into the net for the game-winning goal.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” Liberal coach Carlos Ruiz said. “They played a complete game. We played 100 minutes against Garden Tuesday and were the better team. We had some close calls tonight. We had a lot of adversity, and they kept playing better. Adrenaline kicked in during overtime. It felt really good. They deserved it on a special night for the seniors.”
Libera’s defense has only allowed two goals in the past two games, and both were penalty kicks.
“They had that PK, same as Tuesday,” Ruiz said. “Other than that, we shut them down. We played the top two teams in the conference really well. We are peaking at the right moment. Next week is playoffs. This brought back some memories from the fall.”
The boys team also knocked off Dodge City in the home finale in the fall.
The Lady Redskins will now watch for playoff seedings.
