CANTON -- North Hall's Karen Carlton scored the winning penalty and Mary Mancin made the clinching save, as the Lady Trojans opened region play with a shootout win over Creekview in Canton, 2-2 (3-2).
The Lady Trojans' Julia Matthews scored two goals in regulation but the Lady Grizzlies answered with two goals of their own to send the game into overtime and, eventually, penalties.
Creekview pressured North Hall's goal throughout, coming up with 27 total shots and forcing 15 saves from Mancin. But the Lady Trojan defense made several big plays under pressure to hold its ground.
North Hall (3-2, 1-0 Area 7-AAA) struck first, as Matthews cleaned up a Tess Patton shot that bounced off the Creekview goalkeeper, scoring with 13:18 left before halftime.
The Lady Trojans held the advantage into the second half, but the relentless Lady Grizzlies (1-1-1, 0-1) came roaring back, knotting the game with 28:12 left to play. Jasmine Fahrnbauer punched in a five-yard shot to tie the game at 1-1.
Twelve minutes later, Creekview pulled ahead 2-1 when North Hall's defense couldn't clear a cross in front of its own goal, allowing freshman Cori Dulmage to fire past Mancin.
But the Lady Trojans didn't go quietly.
With 13:36 remaining, Allie Wright launched a corner kick that Matthews drilled into the Lady Grizzlies goal to tie the game -- a score that held until the end of regulation and through two overtime periods.
North Hall and Creekview each converted their first two penalties in the best-of-five shootout format -- and then both missed the next two, setting the stage for Carlton and Mancin.
Carlton nailed her penalty for North Hall, while Mancin denied Creekview's last attempt to seal the victory.
North Hall travels to West Forsyth at 6 p.m. Friday.
Creekview plays host to Sequoyah at 6 p.m. Friday.
Tuesday
November 26th, 2024
9:27PM
