Document text
Luck runs out on St. Mary's girls soccer team Afforded a questionable corner kick, Pleasant Hill takes full advantage by breaking a 1-1 tie and, in turn, the Crusaders' spirit By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune One bit of apparent misfortune led to another, which led to another, which led to St. Mary's being ousted from the OSAA-U.S. Bank Class 3A/2A/1A girls soccer state playoffs Tuesday. The Crusaders, champions of District 6, fell 3-1 to a visiting Pleasant Hill team it had tied earlier in the fall to end the season 10-2-1. The Billies finished second in District 5 but now advance to a quarterfinal match against La Salle, a 2-0 winner over Philomath. Tuesday's game turned on a series of plays that went the Billies' way over a three-minute span in the second half. With the score tied at 1-1, Pleasant Hill was awarded a corner kick when the officials ruled the ball nicked a St. Mary's player before going out of bounds. No one on the Crusaders' side agreed with the call. "We had four girls calling for a goal kick," said Suzanne Irons, co-coach of St. Mary's along with Lia Kirkpatrick. But instead of the Crusaders getting a chance to clear the ball, the Billies were awarded a corner kick. Ashlee Taylor zipped the ball into a crowd in front of the goal, and it ricocheted off the Crusaders' Katie MacDiarmid and into the net at the 56-minute mark. Taylor was credited with the goal. "That's the kind of call that makes or breaks a game," said Pleasant Hill coach Colin Hay. "If it was a bad call, sometimes bad calls are made in games. We've had them against us." The combination of the questionable call and the own goal "took the wind out of our team," said Kirkpatrick. Even Hay said he thought it might have broken the Crusaders' spirit. The Billies kept up the pressure, however, and three minutes later, Rachelle Townley punched in their third goal. "They're a good team," said St. Mary's goalkeeper Annie Maurer. "They put a lot of pressure on me. They're a team that's always moving and crossing over. It was hard for our defense to track them all the time." Until Pleasant Hill's uprising, it appeared as if the game would be as evenly played as a non-conference meeting the first week of the season, which ended in a 1-1 deadlock. Since then, the Billies' only losses have been to top-ranked Marist twice and once each to No. 5 Valley Catholic and No. 6 Philomath. Pleasant Hill is 10-4-2. The Billies managed to take an early lead when Jeana Bruington chipped Maurer 10 minutes into the contest off another Taylor corner kick. "It had a different spin on it, a weird spin," said Maurer, a senior who notched 14 saves. "It was a hard ball to get to. She had perfect placement in the V." The match remained 1-0 until nine minutes had passed in the second half. That's when Nellie Barnard, intent primarily on marking Pleasant Hill goalie Kendra Price on yet another corner kick, headed in Lauren Huizinga's pass. The coaches had pleaded for someone to keep Price from getting her hands on such crosses, as she'd done a couple of times early. "I said I would," said Barnard, "and I was in the right place at the right time." Seven minutes later, the game turned. The kick that victimized MacDiarmid was unavoidable, said Irons. "It hit off the back of her head," said the coach. "She didn't even see it coming. It was totally accidental." Barnard said she and her teammates have nothing to be ashamed of. "There's a lot to be said for this team," said the senior midfielder. "When I was a freshman, we were dead last. Now we've moved up to a championship against 3A teams. I'm not disappointed in this team at all." Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.