BUFORD – The sting of opportunity never presenting itself pales in comparison to missing out when it does.
Need proof? Look no further than the fourth-ranked Buford girls’ soccer team and its coach Drew Eager in the aftermath of a 3-1 Class AAAA state semifinal loss to second-ranked St. Pius Tuesday at Buford.
“This is hard to put into words right now,” Eager said, his voice cracking. “These girls didn’t deserve this result.”
Coming into the match, both team's defenses were evenly matched, with Buford giving up just 14 goals this season and St. Pius only 16.
However, after taking a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the game on an Elexa Bahr assist off an Ambria Shutts corner kick, the opportunities for Buford (18-3) to cement its first appearance in a state title match continued to present themselves.
Sixteen minutes in, the Lady Wolves picked up close offside calls on back-to-back possessions; 19 minutes into the first half, a third offside.
At the 20- and 27-minute marks of the first half, Bahr had one-on-one opportunities with nothing but St. Pius keeper Emory Wegener standing between her and the back of the net, only to see two point-blank shots result in play-of-the-year saves.
This is the same Bahr who notched her fourth straight 20-goal season this year, a school record.
After St. Pius (16-4-2) knotted it at 1-1 five minutes into the second period on a shot in front of goal by Ellie Glenn, the trend that marred the first began rearing its ugly head again as shots on goal by Buford at the six-minute, 18-minute and 25-minute marks either ricocheted off posts or a fully-extended Wegener’s fingertips.
When the buzzer sounded to end regulation with the score still 1-1, the overwhelming vibe by Buford’s fans at Buford’s stadium was that the bend would eventually break: it was just thought that meant for the Lady Wolves. Instead, three minutes into the first overtime period a foul in the St. Pius box resulted in a penalty kick conversion for the Lady Lions Weldon Kolker.
Then with 12 seconds remaining in the match, Kolker scored again on a run out.
For the second consecutive year, the Lady Wolves season ended at the hands of the Lady Lions (last year St. Pius ousted Buford in the state quarterfinals).
“I’ve never had a team lay it out there like they did,” Eager managed to say before letting the cracking voice fully broke. “I’ve never been more proud of a group of girls. We had our opportunities because they just kept pressing and kept fighting and kept moving. Everyone who came in laid it out there. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Calleigh Rowan had seven saves for Buford; Wegener the same for St. Pius.
The Lady Lions will play Marist Saturday for their fourth-straight state title.
