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East's Laura Ellison, right, heads the ball past Woods Cross' Katie
Beeton and in to the net for the game-tying goal. East's Katy Reineke
scored the winning goal in overtime. (Danny Chan La/The Salt Lake
Tribune) |
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WASHINGTON
TERRACE - Mother Nature was not kind to the girls involved in
Saturday's soccer championship, drenching them in a downpour, then
chilling them with a wind.
The thunder, though, was provided by
another in the Class 4-A title game, where East's Katy Reineke boomed a
shot four minutes into overtime to lift the Leopards past Woods Cross
3-2 at Bonneville High.
Reineke's shot came from the left side, well outside the box.
"As soon as she hit it, I thought 'Oh no, it's too far out,'
" East coach Mike Kernodle said. "But what a great shot it was, what can you say about her?"
The
goal was Reineke's 21st for the year. The senior also had the winning
goal when the teams last met in the regular season, another overtime
decision.
"Once I hit it, I could tell it was going to go in,"
Reineke said. "This is great, especially because they killed us 7-2 the
first time we played them."
Reineke's shot was one of the few good looks either teams had with both playing good defense.
"With
this
golden goal rule, the first team that gets a good opportunity is going
to win, but it's better than going to a shootout," Woods Cross coach
Kevin Rigby said. "That was all they needed, and she finished well."
The
title is East's second, the first came in 1999, and was particularly
meaningful for the players who were involved in last year's title
contest, won by Bountiful with a last-second goal.
"Losing last year was horrible," said senior Laura Ellison, who scored
in regulation along with Reineke. "We feel like our team is the best, and we proved it."
That
experience of playing in the title game was important for the Leopards
this year, who have 15 seniors on their roster. East struggled early in
the playoffs, but got stronger in the later stages, including Friday's
4-1 win over Timpview.
In contrast to the experienced Leopards,
the Wildcats have just four seniors on their team. However, the youth
wasn't a hindrance, as Woods Cross matched East in aggressiveness.
Kassidy
Christensen scored in the first half for Woods Cross, then Kelly
Robinson scored with nine minutes left in regulation to tie the game.
"We're
disappointed to lose, but not disappointed with the year," Rigby said.
"The next couple of years, we should do well as young as we are. We're
already excited about that."
In Short
l East last won the title in 1999.
l East was in six overtime games this year and won all of them.
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