Girls Soccer: Young stuns Lane in double OT for Public League title
Updated: May 12, 2012 8:30PM
Rhiannon Holzman had faith the whole time. “I didn’t even look up, I was just hoping somebody was there,” the junior Young midfielder said.
Holzman’s pass found a wide-open Azia Javier, who clipped a left-footed smash that gave the Dolphins a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime victory over Lane for the Public League title Thursday night at Gately Stadium.
Javier’s goal, her 17th of the year, occurred with 9:26 to play in the second overtime. “Rhiannon made a great ball, and it was right there and it was like everything was slow motion,” Javier said. “I didn‘t event think about it, just reacted to the ball.
“It‘s a great feeling.”
The Dolphins won their first city title since 2008.
Holzman’s goal and assist helped complete a miracle comeback as the Dolphins (15-6-4) denied the Indians’ bid to become the first ever three-time city champion. Her header in the closing seconds forced the overtime after Lane broke the scoreless tie on Jasmin Carrera’s penalty kick goal with 3:26 to play.
Holzman aggravated an injury to her right foot she broke earlier in the season. “I was in a boot the whole week, and I had to convince my coaches to let me play,” she said. Holzman used her height to spectacular form after senior midfielder Sara Rodriguez converted a corner kick with less than six seconds to play.
“I knew we had the height on them,” Rodriguez said. Holzman elevated and smashed in the header with less than two seconds remaining. “I knew there wasn’t much time, but I was going to get that shot off and do whatever I had to get that goal,” she said.
The game was aggressive and physical. Young was given two yellow cards and Carrera was also cited for protesting a non-call when she was knocked to the ground.
The Indians (16-5-2) dominated possession time and generated greater scoring chances, though they could not solve the Dolphins’ superb senior keeper, Rachel Hobert. She recorded five of her seven saves after the first half, and made two diving stops to deny Carrera.
Hobert also made a great save in the first half, aggressively leaving the net to make a diving stop on another Carrera shot. The Indians appeared to seize the upper hand after Carrera was tackled in the box.
Getting her composure back after she was forced to sit for a few minutes after receiving the yellow card, Carrera drilled the ball into the right corner post.
“They made a great play when they had, and we made a mistake there when we gave up the corner in the case,” Carrera said. “After we scored, we played kick ball and you can’t do that. We had two balls hit the post. It just wasn’t our night.”
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment