Mitchell's state hopes dashed

Lakeland George Jenkins' OT goal keeps the Mustangs from their first class 5A state berth.

By STEVE LEE
Published February 12, 2005

TRINITY - An errant deflection. A fingertip save. A goal in the waning seconds of the first 10-minute overtime. That's how close Mitchell came to its first state appearance.

The Mustangs' best postseason run in their five-year history ended Friday night with a 2-1 loss to Lakeland George Jenkins, which advanced to state by winning in its first region final.

"We're very close," Mitchell coach Karl Kukec said. "I mean, one goal in overtime. That's a loss that's tough to take."

Lauren Schenk had a chance to win it for Mitchell, but goalkeeper Crystal Goncalves tipped away a 30-yard blast headed for the upper left corner in the ninth minute of overtime.

"Phenomenal," is how Jenkins coach Chris Farrar described Goncalves' save. "The harder (the game) gets the better she does. Thankfully, (Friday), that was the game-winning save."

Seconds later, Abigail Hunt's corner kick from the right side made it through a host of players to the back side. Kayla Grimsley sneaked the ball under lunging keeper Lauren Hudson near the left post for the winner.

"One has to be the loser and it was us," Kukec said. "Two minutes ago it could have been us and a minute later they got the goal."

Lauren Schenk scored the first goal, her county-leading 54th, in the eighth minute. Hudson started the play with a high-goal kick to midfield. Lea Weber prevented the ball from going out of bounds with a header near the right sideline before crossing it to Schenk, who deked Goncalves and tucked it just inside the right post.

Defender Erin Fogarty's deflection resulted in an own goal, which led to a tie at 1 in the 34th minute. Fogarty had Hunt covered on a high cross but the ball deflected high into the net off Fogarty's foot.

"If Erin wouldn't have got it, she had a player on her who would have scored," Kukec said. "It was just unfortunate."

Moments before that goal, Hudson, who made four saves, was caught out of the net and defender Lindsey Sowder raced back to the goal line. Sowder kicked away a 15-yard shot by Angelica Lewis. Hudson also got caught out of the net early in the second half, but Hunt hit the right post and the rebound bounced off Sowder behind the Mitchell net.

Mitchell (23-4-1) made it to two region semifinals before advancing to the final this season.

"We have a good team that can still go on for years to come," Kukec said.

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]