Lumberjills chop down Bobcats in penalty shootout, 3-3 (4-2)

Two years ago, Aberdeen and R.A. Long met in a district loser-out contest in girls soccer and the Lumberjills prevailed in penalty kicks.

On Tuesday night, history repeated itself at Stewart Field.

After a furious last-minute of regulation, both the Bobcats and the Jills survived overtime to get to the penalty kick shootout. From there, the visitors were spot on, converting all four spot kicks en route to a 3-3 (4-2) victory.

For Aberdeen, its season comes to an end at 5-12. For R.A. Long (10-8), it’ll take on Hockinson in another loser-out contest on Thursday.

“I put the girls, the seniors, who have been in this position before and (the shootout) is a crap shoot,” AHS head coach Ryan Housden said. “They didn’t shank them. They put them all on frame and their goalkeeper made the saves. It was a great match.”

Senior Tayler Housden finished her AHS career with a hat trick. However, it appeared in the final minute of regulation that she wouldn’t get the chance.

With the final whistle coming at any moment, R.A. Long set up one final charge and converted. Midfielder Laurel Poole made a run down the left side and got to the end line when she sent a low cross in front of the goal. Goalkeeper Reagan Glanz and forward Sadie Allen fought for the ball, with Allen winning to poke it home for the goal.

At regulation’s final moments, Aberdeen quickly restarted the match and got a counter attack of its own. Pressuring the Jills’ defense, one of the Bobcats was tackled inside the penalty area. The center official immediately pointed for the penalty kick.

Housden took the spot kick and beat goalkeeper Khloe Snair for the tying goal. The center official blew her whistle to end regulation seconds later.

“We reset our formation to a 3-5-2 and clogged the middle,” coach Housden said. “That set up our counter attacks. They did control the ball, but as our defense shape, the score was 3-3. We held our form and kept it where we wanted it to.”

In overtime, just like in regulation, the Jills held the lion’s share of possession and pressure. The Bobcats were able to counter attack to discharge the pressure on their defense.

Allen had a chance to win in the second overtime period when her long run on the ball was met by Glanz, who got just enough of the ball to send it wide of the right post. After the Bobcats cleared the ensuing corner kick, the whistle was blown to end overtime.

For the shootout, Aberdeen went first. Mackenzie Arnold converted the first attempt, but Amanda Bradt and Dani Buckman each had their attempts saved. RA Long converted its first three, forcing the Bobcats’ Alex Wilson to convert hers. She did at 3-2.

The Jills’ Madilyn Reece made the final conversion, hitting it low to the right away from Glanz for the goal.

Housden got her first goal in the fifth minute, giving Aberdeen a quick 1-0 lead. From 20 yards out, Housden hit a sharp shot that went through the hands of Snair, who was diving for the stop.

R.A. Long’s Madeline Wolff tied the match in the 18th minute when her 30-yard shot beat Glanz to the high right corner. Ten minutes later, Allen gave the Jills a 2-1 lead when she got a through ball feed from Abigail Anderson and one-touched it past Glanz.

Against the run of play, Housden tied the match in the 50th minute. Abbi Bradt slid the ball past three RAL defenders onto a running Housden, who simple redirected the ball away from Snair into the net.

“I’m really happy with how the girls played this season,” coach Housden said. “We had a rough start, but the girls pulled it together and played really well at the end. We’ve come a long ways from the start. The way it ended tonight, if it was going to end, this was a good way to end it. It was a really good game.”