After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer, Falcons advance on PK's, 4-3 !!
It took two hours of playing time plus nine shots from the Penalty Mark, but the Folsom Lake women's soccer team finally emerged victorious after a stressful third-round playoff match against Clovis on Tuesday evening at Falcon Stadium. The #1 seeded Falcons were pushed to their limit by a very worthy opponent that refused to give an inch. The #9 seeded Crush held the Falcons scoreless, just the second team this season to accomplish that feat (ironically, the first was Fresno, the Falcons' upcoming opponent on Saturday). The teams waged a scoreless battle for 90 minutes, then returned to the pitch for two 15-minute overtime periods. With the score still knotted at 0-0, the dreaded penalty kick shootout would determine which team would advance. To their advantage, the Crush had advanced to Tuesday's match by virtue of a PK shootout victory in their previous match at Cabrillo on Saturday, 4-2.
That advantage quickly disappeared when Clovis' first shot sailed high over the goal. Falcon freshman defender Miah Mullany then calmly netted the first shot to give her team the advantage. The Crush' next three players all made their shots while the Falcons responded with goals by Luci Gulbransen, Klaire Horton, and Addisyn Barnum. With the Falcons leading 4-3 after four rounds, the Crush would need a goal to continue the drama. But Clovis' fifth shooter sent her shot over the crossbar and the Falcon celebration ensued.
Although the results of the match will be recorded a tie, the Falcons (18-0-3) advance to the Elite Eight and will face #5 seed Fresno (16-2-4), a 2-0 winner over #4 San Francisco, on Saturday at 4:00 pm at FLC. The winner of the match will advance to the State Championship Final Four on Dec 2 at American River College.
The shutout was the Falcons' 18th of the season and 12th consecutive since they last allowed a goal on October 4. Goalkeeper Grace Filiau played 118 of the 120 minutes and freshman Reese Clark took over for the final two minutes of play and for the PK shootout.
photo by Doug Guler