After 80 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of extra time, W.F. West and Hockinson remained tied at zero, and both benches began preparing for a penalty shootout. The winner would advance to the state tournament.
It wasn’t the first time that the Bearcats have been in a shootout this postseason. Just last week in their district quarterfinal against R.A. Long, they connected three times from the spot to advance.
They were less fortunate from the spot on Saturday, as Hockinson earned a 1-0 win and advanced to state by winning the penalty shootout 2-1.
“It’s just the way it goes sometimes,” W.F. West coach Kevin Schultz said.
Early on in the game, a scoreless tie seemed like a long shot, as Hockinson consistently had the ball deep in the Bearcat half of the field and put several shots into the box and towards the net.
W.F. West keeper Francesca Remund, filling in for an injured Charlee Nelson, was fantastic for the Bearcats in net, though, making several saves to keep the game tied at zero.
Offensively, the Bearcats struggled to string together passes, and Schultz had to call out for the girls to calm down a few times early in the game.
“I think we definitely were just a little too panicked and energetic in the first half,” Schultz said. “It was a little bit frantic.”
W.F. West took a breather at halftime and came out more organized in the second half.
“We still weren’t able to generate the scoring opportunities that we wanted to,” Schultz said. “But we were able to get some more of the ball and back them up in their half more.”
The lack of scoring carried over into the shootout, where the Bearcats and Hawks combined to miss the target entirely on six of the 10 shots.
Hockinson’s Audrey Armstrong ended up being the difference on both ends, as she saved the first W.F. West shot before eventually sinking the final kick of the game into the bottom left corner of the net.
Schultz said that while W.F. West didn’t achieve its ultimate goal this season, he wanted to make sure that the girls appreciated what they did accomplish, including its first win at the district tournament since 2012.
“Winning a playoff game was big,” Schultz said. “We want to focus on the growth. I want them to understand that they had a good year, and they’ve grown and done a lot of good.”
The Bearcats finish their season 13-5 and will bid farewell to eight seniors. Schultz said the senior class will be “missed a lot,” and he also is looking forward to getting back to work with his returners next fall.
“We got a good group coming back,” Schultz said. “I think the great thing about the program right now is that we have players that are hungry, that want to improve, and that want to have success. I’ll work with those players every day of the week.”
