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Palmer’s Kirsten King , left, battled Pine Creek’s Lindsey Watt for the ball Tuesday during the Eagles’ 2-1 win.
(KIRK SPEER, THE GAZETTE)
Goal in double overtime puts Eagles in playoffs
Pine Creek sophomore Carolyn Simon scored with 1.9 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to send Pine Creek into the 5A state girls soccer playoffs.
Pine Creek (10-4-1, 6-2-1 5A Metro) defeated Palmer 2-1 on Tuesday at Garry Berry Stadium and finished third in the 5A Metro Conference.
"Those two overtimes were so evenly matched," Palmer coach Chris Romano said. "We just needed to hold on for 1.9 more seconds."
The top five in the league advance to the playoffs, and Palmer finished sixth after Doherty (9-6-0, 6-3-0) beat Sand Creek 3-2 in double overtime later Tuesday.
Pine Creek's Simon found the back of the net from 15 yards on Palmer goalkeeper Candy Bergst's right side. The goal was Simon's sixth.
"Carolyn has had so many breakaways in the last couple games but hasn't been able to score," Eagles coach John Frederick said. "She picked a great time to finally get one in there."
Pine Creek took a 1-0 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the first half. Junior Bri Favatella controlled a corner kick from Emily Keydeniers and scored.
"We haven't really been allowing many goals all season, so I knew if we could just get our shots going we'd be alright," Frederick said.
The Terrors (6-6-3, 5-3-1) tied the score off a corner kick with 6:45 remaining in regulation. Allie Metzler's pass went to the far goalpost where Kassy Santos was waiting to finish.
"They definitely dominated the first half," Romano said. "But we battled back to score and take control there before the end of the second."
Pine Creek goalkeeper Carmen McDermott made seven saves, while Bergst made 15.
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