ELLISVILLE - Sunday evening provided one of the most memorable, yet excruciating matches in the history of the Northwest women's soccer program.
As the sixth-ranked Lady Rangers found themselves competing for the Region 23 championship for only the third time in program history, Northwest was going to have to go through third-ranked Holmes in order to earn the program's first region title. The match would come down to the wire and unfortunately, the final result was not kind to the Lady Rangers, as Holmes earned yet another Region 23 title by winning the shootout.
Though officially recorded as a 1-1 draw, Holmes made three of its five penalty kicks in the shootout while Northwest made just one, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to claim the title and an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Much like the regular season meeting between the two teams, Northwest and Holmes concluded the first half with no score, despite an 8-5 shot advantage for the Lady Rangers. In the 62nd minute, Northwest finally hit the jackpot, as
Dani Rodriguez connected with
Jennifer Enriquez to give the Lady Rangers a 1-0 advantage.
From there, Northwest stayed on the defensive as Holmes began to turn up the pressure. In the 80th minute, the Lady Bulldogs finally got one to connect in front of the net, as Brianna Lopez found the foot of Callie McKinney.
With neither team able to break the ice in regulation, the match went into overtime. Northwest took two shots in the extra period, but was unable to connect, forcing a second overtime. The Lady Rangers nearly ended the match with a great kick from Enriquez, but the ball ricocheted off the post and barely out of the net, denying the golden goal for Northwest.
Northwest outshot Holmes 6-4 in both overtime periods, but the score remained deadlocked as the second overtime came to a close. To decide a winner, the two teams went into a penalty kick shootout. Lopez made her first penalty kick for Holmes and Enriquez did as well for Northwest, but the Lady Rangers were unable to connect on the others, sealing the region championship for the Lady Bulldogs.
Northwest outshot Holmes 21-16 for the match and 10-6 in shots on goal.
Addy McCann netted five saves for the Lady Rangers and surrendered her first goal since September 30, which also came against the Lady Bulldogs. The Hernando native had been on a seven-match streak of shutouts prior to Sunday evening, as her official record now stands at 12-1-3 on the season.
In the foul count, Northwest was whistled for 15 fouls against 10 for Holmes.
Evie Crawford and
Malaesha Liddell were each issued a pair of debatable yellow cards as well.
Now officially 13-1-3 on the season, the Lady Rangers will now play the waiting game in hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, held November 14-18 in Tucson, Ariz. It would be the first time Northwest has ever earned a selection to the national tournament.
Selections for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament will be announced on Tuesday, November 8, though the NJCAA has yet to reveal a time for the announcement.
