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St. Thomas 0, Wildcats 0 (Double overtime); St. Thomas Wins 3-2 in shootout

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, the section final between the first-seeded Chisago Lakes Wildcats and the second-seeded St. Thomas Tommies came down to a penalty kick shootout. The Tommies proved just a little bit better than the Wildcats, winning the shootout 3-2 and earning a berth in the state tournament.

The game, played at home on Thursday, October 20, had everything – great scoring opportunities, missed shots, great saves by the goalies, a controversial offsides call and the penalty kick drama at the end.

The Tommies best chance in regulation came in the second half. The Tommies played a thru ball ahead of a streaking forward. Wildcat goalie Tom Fitzer raced out of the net to try to beat the St. Thomas player to the ball. The St. Thomas player got there first and tried to kick the ball around a sliding Fitzer from the top of the box and shot it wide.

The Wildcats had several scoring chances late in regulation. With about 15 minutes remaining, Chris Golv carried the ball into the left corner and put a hard crossing pass into the middle of the box. Blane Maher had to slide to get a foot on it, and tipped it just over the crossbar. With two minutes left, the Wildcats controlled the ball in the Tommie penalty area. As the ball popped up, a Wildcat player headed the ball to another Wildcat player standing near the left post. That player headed the ball just wide and the score remained tied at the end of regulation.

OVERTIME

With seven minutes remaining in the first sudden death overtime, the Tommies thought they had won the game. A Tommie player received a pass in the Wildcat penalty area and carried the ball to point blank range. Fitzer was right in front of the Tommie, so he passed it to a teammate standing three feet away. That player slammed the ball home and the Tommie players and fans started to storm the field, thinking they had won. But, the assistant referee on the sideline had raised his flag to signal that the player who scored had been offside. The head referee ran over to the sideline and, after an animated discussion with the assistant, waved off the goal. The Wildcats had dodged a bullet.

A couple of minutes later, the Wildcats had a great chance of their own. A Wildcat player took a shot from the left part of the penalty area after a free kick. The goalie got his hand on it and deflected it slightly. The ball still appeared headed for the net. But, the Tommie player guarding the right post got a foot on it just before it flew over the line and knocked it wide.

The teams finished the rest of the first overtime and the second overtime without scoring, setting up the penalty kick shootout. In the shootout, each team has five different players take a penalty kick, and the team that’s ahead after five kicks is declared the winner.

SHOOTOUT

The Wildcats went first. Blane Maher shot and hit the crossbar. The first Tommie player shot to the right, but Wildcat goalie Fitzer had guessed right and knocked the shot away. It was 0-0 after one round. In the second round, both Wildcat Chris Golv and the second Tommie shooter made their shots to tie the score at 1-1.

In the third round, Brady Huber shot for the Wildcats. Huber’s shot sailed over the crossbar. The Tommie shooter shot low and to the left. Fitzer dove to the left, but the ball was shot too low for him to reach and rolled underneath him to give the Tommies a 2-1 lead after three rounds. Mark Eagan scored for the Wildcats in the fourth round, and the Tommie shooter also made his shot to preserve the Tommies' one-goal lead.

The Wildcats’ final shot was taken by Ross Jones. Jones shot high and to the right, but the Tommie goalie guessed correctly, knocked the shot away and St. Thomas was in the state tournament.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh said. “They played their hearts out. They had a great game and a great season. Both teams played very well in this game. It’s too bad a game like that has to be decided by a pressure-filled situation like a penalty kick shootout. But, what can you do.”

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