Fort Mill girls edge Clover in penalty shootout
Fort Mill won its seventh straight over Clover, edging the Blue Eagles 4-3 in penalty kicks on Wednesday night.
Clover entered the fray ranked second in 5A, with Fort Mill fifth. Kelsey Geary’s Blue Eagles had dropped six straight to Fort Mill, its last win over the Yellow Jackets coming in 2013. It looked like they might nick a win from Fort Mill in the penalty shootout, only for Rachel Stalford to make two saves before Erin Wolfe buried the winner.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous,” said Fort Mill coach Danielle Center. “That’s not our starting goalkeeper but you know what she stepped up and made a difference for us. When we had to go with a sixth shooter, we weren’t sure who to go to, Erin Wolfe stepped up and said I’ll do it, stepped up and made it.”
Fort Mill, with three losses to North Carolina soccer powers and a fourth to J.L. Mann, the No. 1-ranked team in 5A, might have been annoyed to not lead at the half. The Yellow Jackets (9-4-1) won five free kicks and a couple of corners in Clover's end of the field but failed to capitalize. Clover's backline was busy but did its job with strong foreheads and several last-ditch tackles.
The Blue Eagles (9-2-2), missing five injured contributors, cleared a scuffed Fort Mill shot off the goal line four minutes into the match, before Grace Sain made a crucial intervention with an outstretched leg to turn away Fort Mill striker Meredith Christopher in the 12th minute.
Christopher, who came into Wednesday's contest with 15 goals in 13 games, nearly scored with five minutes left in the half. Kimber Haley carved open the Clover midfield and threaded a path into Christopher's feet. But Blue Eagles keeper Erika Drutis smothered her poked effort, to a relieved sigh from the home side's bench and coaching staff.
Barely two minutes into the second half, the ball fell for Fort Mill sophomore Annika Ford but she couldn’t get the bite necessary to curl her shot into the top left corner of the net.
Christopher had two more chances to put the visitors in front in the second half. Haley through balls spawned both opportunities, and Elizabeth Price, who replaced Drutis at the half, denied both with her right leg, first in the 56th minute and again in the 70th.
The game went to overtime and neither team mustered much, Christopher’s bullet free kick just sailing past the right post with about a minute before penalty kicks, the best chance of the extra periods.
Turning point
The turning point of an even match came in the penalty shootout. Tied 3-3 in the shootout, the two teams progressed to sudden death. Bailey Story’s spot kick flew over and Fort Mill’s Wolfe calmly dispatched her shot to send her teammates screaming toward her to celebrate the win.
Critical
Clover’s tackling was spot-on in the back. The slew of skilled technicians in the Yellow Jackets’ attacking third kept Geary’s club under constant pressure but it held up, despite a few mistimed lunges, to force overtime.
“Clover played really well defensively, really packed it in against us,” said Center. “We had plenty of opportunities, we just couldn’t finish our chances.”
Star contributors
Haley was dangerous for Fort Mill, creating a handful of great chances for her teammates during regulation. Ford paired with Haley to give Fort Mill a really sturdy, inventive midfield spine.
Haley Hocking was strong defensively in the middle of the park for Clover, while Sain, Janae Massey and Bailey Story put in their share of successful tackles for the Blue Eagles. And Drutis and Price each took turns making huge saves for Clover.
On deck
Clover heads to Northwestern Friday in a game that will likely be played in messy weather, before taking on J.L. Mann in a hefty non-region test on April 3. Fort Mill hosts Rock Hill Friday in search of its fourth Region 4-5A win.
This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Fort Mill girls edge Clover in penalty shootout."