The little team that could, nearly did again.
Needing a win to secure a spot in the 1A State Tournament and the district-championship game, the Elma Eagles forced overtime on a heart-stopping goal in the final second of regulation only to eventually fall 3-2 to La Center on Thursday at La Center High School.
Elma (11-6-1) took an early lead when freshman forward Beta Valentine shot a high-arcing direct free kick toward the Wildcats net. The attempt was mishandled by the La Center keeper and Elma sophomore Aaleigha Weld poked the rebound into the net for a 1-0 Eagles lead in the 28th minute.
But just a few minutes later, La Center (12-1-2) scored the equalizer when a shot from Sadie Schmidt was blocked by Elma keeper Grace Koonrad, but the rebound spun toward an open Eagles net, bounced off the leg of an Elma defender and crossed the line to tie the game at 1-all.
The game would remain tied until just under 10 minutes to play, when Elma was called for a foul in the box, leading to a Wildcats penalty kick. Wildcats midfielder Shaela Bradley converted the penalty shot for a 2-1 Wildcats lead.
But with time ticking down to the final second of the game, lightning struck in the form of Elma’s Janessa Sample.
The steady, poised senior midfielder sent a high, hard shot that squirmed through the La Center keeper’s hands and into the back of the net for a game-tying goal.
Shortly after the ball we reset at midfield, the final whistle blew and the game went to a sudden-death overtime period.
In overtime, a controversial call led to what turned out to be the game-winning goal, with Elma on the losing end of the call. A ball into the Elma penalty area was deflected off an Elma defender’s knee, which then bounced off the unnamed player’s hand.
Officials called a handball penalty on Elma and awarded a La Center penalty kick.
FIFA rules govern WIAA contests during play. FIFA Law 12 — Rules and Misconduct was updated in March to state that, “it is not an offence if the ball touches a player’s hand/arm directly from the player’s own head or body (including the foot); directly from the head or body (including the foot) of another player who is close; if the hand/arm is close to the body and does not make the body unnaturally bigger.”
But the call stood and gave La Center a golden opportunity to win the game.
Bradley converted her second PK of the contest, giving La Center the 3-2 victory and a meeting in the district-championship game against Montesano, which defeated Tenino 4-0 in a district semifinal on Thursday.
The loss sent Elma into a third-place/elimination game against Tenino scheduled for noon on Saturday in Montesano.
Though the loss was gut-wrenching for a young Eagles team, Elma head coach Evan Valentine knows there is still much to play for with a trip to the state tournament still within the Eagles’ grasp.
Coach Valentine stated at this point of the season, there are no more magic locker-room speeches to be said.
“I’m just going to tell them that I’m very, very proud of them. That’s it,” he said. “They worked really hard and they deserve to be where they are. That is the message. They’ve done the hard work already, so I don’t need to reiterate that.”
Elma 1 1 0 — 2
La Center 1 1 1 — 3
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Rochester 3, Aberdeen 1
Neither team won a set by more than three points as Aberdeen fell to Rochester 26-24, 24-26, 23-25 and 22-25 in the season finale for both teams on Thursday in Rochester.
“The girls battled tonight,” Aberdeen head coach Desiree Glanz said. “We had some long, exciting rallies. We had a few lineup changes which gave some underclassmen an opportunity to step up and perform. I’m proud of this young, talented group and look forward to building this program.”
Aberdeen (2-14 overall, 0-12 2A Evergreen) was led by senior Merryn Bruner (23 digs, 11 assists, 2 kills), Emmersyn Yakovich (14 digs, 6 kills), Lilly Camp (8 kills) and Kailey Pendergrass (4 kills, 2 blocks).
Aberdeen 26 24 23 22 — 1
Rochester 24 26 25 25 — 3
