Wootton defeats Blake 11-10 with a last-minute goal

By Kyle Wannen
For DigitalSports.com

Things did not look good for Wootton as they trailed Blake 10-8 with under two minutes remaining in their girls' lacrosse game Friday and a desperate effort was needed to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Patriots did one better as they scored twice within 15 seconds and then got a game-winning goal from midfielder Molly Berman with 30 seconds remaining to defeat the Bengals 11-10 in a rematch of last year's 4A/3A West Regional Finals.

"The girls dug deep," Wootton coach Anne-Marie Steppling said. "They never dropped their heads. They never got discouraged. What a game to start off the rest of our season."

After tying the game, Wootton forced a turnover in their defensive zone and quickly moved the ball upfield. Midfielder Amy Eaton moved into the offensive zone and had the ball checked loose twice before finding Berman in front of the goal with a crisp pass. Berman then moved to her right and as she was knocked down, she ripped a shot past the goalie for the game-winner with 30 seconds left. The clutch shot prompted Steppling to title Berman as a 'drama queen', in the good sense of the word.

"I just knew we needed a goal in the last couple of seconds and I just went for it," Berman said. "Hopefully we would win it."

Berman finished the game with four goals and four assists to lead the Patriots (6-1).

"It was very clutch," Steppling said. "Molly showed us early on in the game that she was ready to play. She was in it to win it all the way until the end."

After watching their one-goal halftime lead disappear quickly, Wootton trailed by two with just under two minuted to play. Midfielder Natasha Hanacek, who has missed the past two season with knee injuries scored two goals within 15 seconds of each other to tie that game late. She finished with four goals as well as an assist.

"I play better under pressure," Hanacek said. "We were having trouble getting the ball dow on offense and once we did we knew we had to take it straight to the goal and put it in."

"She's got great composure and good discipline and she's wise beyond her years on the field," Steppling said. "We're really glad to have her back on the field for us."

The Patriots also got two goals from Melissa Frohna and a goal from Caroline Stapleton.

"I guess we'll be seeing them in the playoffs probably so it should be a really close game again," Hanacek said.

Blake (8-1) trailed by a goal heading into halftime but came out strong in the second half behind a strong effort from goalie Molly Donaghue, who made a number of crucial saves to keep her team in the game. Midfielder Nicole Wannen led the Bengals with four goals and an assist and midfielder Justine Allen and attackman Ashley Martin each scored twice and had a assist apiece.

"I give a lot of credit to Wootton because they took advantage of it by getting off some scores quickly," Blake coach Janis Maloney said. "We're not disappointed by the effort at all and it really has given us some thing to work on for the rest of the season."