It was almost a beautiful day for the Emporia State soccer team on Thursday at the ESU Pitch.
Sure, the weather was cold and the ground was so wet that passes stopped dead in the water, but the Hornets played their best soccer of the year in the sloppy conditions against Northwest Missouri, the fourth-place team in the MIAA.
The Hornets nearly came away with a win — they would lose 2-1 in double overtime — rallying late to tie the game and then scoring what appeared to be the game-winning goal in the last minute of regulation.
On a scrum in the box, Tessa Pettyjohn knocked in what would have been the game-winning goal, but the referee waved off the goal.
“There was that mystery call against us after we scored that I’m not really sure what the heck the deal was there,” ESU coach Jim Schneiderhahn said. “We had chances. We just didn’t finish them.”
The Hornets controlled the ball for most of the two overtimes, but they could not finish several chances around the goal. In the second overtime, Northwest Missouri’s Heidi Sobota rolled a shot through the hands of ESU goalie Nikki Schmitz in the 106th minute, giving the Hornets their ninth straight loss.
Once Sobota scored, the ESU players stood frozen as if they were shocked the game was over.
“I think this was one where it really hurt because I think they felt that they gave it their all, and maybe the right word was we deserved to win,” Schneiderhahn said. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and that’s hard.”
Emporia State (1-12-1, 1-10 MIAA) has struggled to come back when facing a deficit this year, but the team picked up the intensity when Northwest’s Andrea Tritz scored in the 74th minute to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead.
Freshman forward Amanda Penney tied the game in the 80th minute, getting control of a loose ball in the box and firing a shot right under the crossbar, the first goal of her career.
“It was a relief and it was exciting, because I was ready to come again and get another goal,” Penney said.
Penney had some of the Hornets’ best chances, getting two shots on goal in overtime that were both saved by Northwest goalie Kira Lazenby.
“I got a couple chances,” Penney said. “Unfortunately I didn’t finish them, but I think that at the end of the day you’ve got to finish those shots.”
Northwest Missouri (10-5-1, 6-5-1) controlled the first half of the game, but once ESU tied it, it was the Hornets that were in control and looked to be the more confident team.
That fact made this loss even tougher to swallow.
“We definitely dominated that game,” Penney said. “It was an unfortunate goal, and those things happen. We’re all tired and we all need to battle together, and at the end of the day, we didn’t come out with the win.”