Perkins prevails in 2nd overtime, advances to district final

MILLBURY — Perkins' girls soccer team made some program history Wednesday night. The Pirates defeated Maumee 1-0 in the second overtime in a Division III district semifinal at Lake High School. It was the Pirates' first district win in school history. "It's tournament soccer; crazy things happen," Perkins coach Scott McVeigh said. "We're still playing, I know that." Perkins ended the long match when sophomore Isabella Ramirez scored off a deflection by Maumee goalkeeper Lauren Liwo. Ireland Hart took a solid shot on goal, which was stopped by Liwo. Ramirez, running down the left side, was there to clean it up for the game-winner, leading to many celebratory hugs. "Ireland took a great shot. It was too hard for (the goalie), who deflected it," Ramirez said. "I was running and saw it and knew I had to shoot over her head because she was on the ground." Ramirez was a bit excited, to say the least. "I couldn't have done it without my mom, my dad, my coach and all my teammates supporting me," she said. The winning play unfolded when Sophia Ralofsky passed to Jordyn Brunner in the midfield. Brunner looked ahead to Hart, whose pressure led the Ramirez's goal. "We played it wide. Soph had it on her feet. Jordyn made a run from mid," McVeigh said. "We've been talking for the last four days to the mids that the space would be open. Soph put it on her feet, Jordyn put a nice ball through and Ireland hit it. "The goalie couldn't handle it and Isa was there to clean it up." Ramirez said it was her first overtime goal. She was in the right place at the right time, and it came after she limped off the field late in the first overtime session. "Keep calm. If you play timid you will fall down," she said of her approach in overtime. "Play the game that you know. It is very intense. We all worked very hard." McVeigh urged his players to keep the pressure on after 80 minutes of regulation time. The first 15-minute overtime session ended with each team scoreless. "Going into that second overtime we said it would take one through ball, one pass wide, one thing," McVeigh said. "We did that one thing." Ramirez's goal came after the teams battled for 99 minutes and 52 seconds on a pleasant fall evening. Perkins and Maumee played to a scoreless tie in the season opener on August 16, meaning the Pirates and Panthers played to a draw for nearly 180 minutes over two games played more than three months apart. "It was a lot like our first game of the season against them," McVeigh said. "They're a good team; they're stingy defensively. They haven't given up a lot of goals, either. "We've been prepping on penalty shots every single day because we thought it might come to that. I'm glad it didn't go to PKs." The top-seeded Pirates improved to 16-1-2 and recorded their 13th shutout victory of the season. Perkins has allowed only seven goals all season. The Pirates will return to Millbury for Saturday's 6 p.m. district final against Bowling Green (9-8-2). Maumee, which shut out Sandusky in a district quarterfinal, finished with a record of 8-8-3. Perkins' back line of Caitlin Frankfather, Haylie Brunner, Allie Brunner and Makenna Marianek turned away Maumee's offense, which had a couple good looks early. "We gave them some opportunities, but our back four did a great job as always," McVeigh said. "The last 10 minutes of the second half we really pressed them and did a nice job. "Survive and advance. That's what it's all about." Ontario 4, Norwalk 0 LEXINGTON — Addi Pittman scored two goals to lead fourth-seeded Ontario past second-seeded Norwalk in a Division III district semifinal. The Truckers finished the season with a 15-3-1 record. Liberty-Benton 4, Port Clinton 0 CLYDE — The Redskins trailed just 1-0 at halftime, but second-seeded Liberty-Benton dominated the second half in a Division IV district semifinal. Port Clinton finished the season with a 9-9-1 record.