LIZTON -The Crawfordsville girls soccer season came down to just a couple swings of a couple legs as they fall to Western Boone 4-3 in penalty kicks in the first round of the 2A Section 25 tournament.
A first half Stars goal, a WeBo own goal late, and then four made penalty kicks after two scoreless overtime periods was the scoring for the Stars, who avenge a 1-0 loss last week to the Athenians, and advance to the sectional semifinals Thursday.
Crawfordsville spent nearly the entire second half in the attack zone, putting pass after pass, shot after shot toward the net, but nothing got across the goal line. The WeBo own goal came with :52.8 remaining and tied the match at one, sending it to the scoreless double overtime, which was followed by the penalty kick session. The Stars made four PKs to Crawfordsville’s three.
“WeBo passes the ball well, C’ville coach Alex Ehrlich said. “We had the majority of play in our end, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net. Sometimes it happens like that, but it still stinks a lot. We are leaving three seniors, and that is a really bad feeling.”
The Athenians peppered Stars sophomore goal keeper Cora Somers with 14 shots, but the only one that got by her was kicked by a teammate. There were a dozen or more offensive charges by C’ville that had shots blocked by a defender or just go high or wide.
“It’s part of the game,” Ehrlich said, as his third season comes to an end with his team holding a 9-7 record, including a 5-2, third-place finish in the Sagamore Conference.
The three seniors the coach referred to included Athenians goal keeper Zoey Corbin, who stopped five of the six shots she saw. The other two seniors are Taylor Abston and Emily Weliver.
“These three seniors are such great kids, so special,” Ehrlich said. “I’ve been with Taylor every year I’ve coached and Emily only one less. All three of these girls are so coachable, they have worked so hard. It just crushes me to have them finish. They have so much to be proud of. When Taylor started in middle school we didn’t win a game, and when she was a freshman we didn’t win one. When she finished eighth grade, and now her senior season, she has a winning record. Her leadership and dedication is amazing, and Emily is right along with her. If not for them, we are not 9-7.”
The short senior list for the Athenians means a long list of returning players.
“We had nine goal scorers this season,” Ehrlich noted, “and seven of them are coming back. We are not a one-trick pony,”
What the coach didn’t mention is that all but two goals scored this season returns, including Riley Gardner and Caroline Novak, who combined for 17 goals and 19 assists.
“The future is bright,” Ehrlich added. “The girls have bought in to what we have and this season we got a taste.”
Ehrlich also noted the off-season work that has brought a lot of improvement to the program and hopefully more in the future.
“I really have to thank Crawfordsville Vice Principal Mark Melton for all the work he has done with the off-season workouts,” he said. “We also have a lot of good kids coming up. I am excited for the future.”
The Stars, who move to 4-10-1, will take on Tri-West Thursday in one semifinal match. The other match will feature Frankfort and Danville.
