On To The Final Four!!

All season long, the FLC women's soccer team made it known that their goal was to make it to the CCCAA state final four.  After 120 minutes of battling both Big 8 rival Santa Rosa and relentless wind & rain on Saturday night at Falcon Stadium , the Falcons accomplished their goal when sophomore Hannah O'Donnell calmly knocked the ball past Santa Rosa goalkeeper Ally Milone to give the home team a decisive 3-2 margin in penalty kicks.  The Bear Cubs had given the Falcons all they could handle, as the visitors seemed to control the time of possession throughout the first half.  Meanwhile, the Falcons' back line of Megan Trent, Mia Evans, and Natalie Fischer made sure that very few balls made it to goalkeeper Aubrey Hall, and the teams were scoreless after 45 minutes.  After some halftime adjustments (and with the wind & rain now at their backs), the Falcons stepped up the pressure.  Still, neither team managed to find the net in regulation time as they remained deadlocked at 0-0.  Playoff rules call for two 15- minute overtime periods (no Golden Goal rule), so the teams trudged back onto the drenched field for another 30 minutes of fun in the rain.  Again, both teams had their chances but neither could score, leaving the outcome to the dreaded penalty kick shootout (alternating 5 shots for each team) as the rain intensified.     With the Bear Cubs missing their first two shots off the posts, sophomore Tori Pearson gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead after two rounds.  Two rounds later, sophomore Amber Hicks put the Falcons ahead 2-1 with just one round to go.  After the Bear Cubs made it 2-2 with their fifth shot, Hannah O'Donnell sent the decisive shot into the net to send the Falcons to Ventura.