Murphy, Texas,

Women Soccer

Sorrow at state

Southlake Carroll edges PESH 2-1 in Class 5A championship

Photo by Roosevelt Joubert
The faces of the Lady Panthers express the frustration they felt following Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Southlake Carroll at the Class 5A state championship in Round Rock. Left to right are Kathryn Leto, Caitlin Hannum, Katherine McKenzie, Ashley Ramos and Ashley Sullivan. The defeat ended an exceptional season, one in which the 2008 squad became the first Plano East girls’ soccer team ever to reach the state tournament.

By  Greg  Ford
Sports Editor
gford@wylienews

ROUND ROCK – During the final moments of Saturday’s Class 5A girls soccer championship, Plano East pushed the ball toward the Southlake Carroll goal, where, with just seconds to spare, senior Carolyn Polcari launched a desperation shot.

Had it gone in, then PESH and Carroll would have been tied 2-2 and heading into overtime.

However, Lady Dragon goalie Caitlin Schneider snared it right at the goal line, resulting in a 2-1 defeat for East at the Round Rock ISD complex.

The loss ended an excellent season for the Lady Panthers, one in which they shared the District 9-5A crown with Allen and then became the first PESH girls’ soccer team to advance to the state tournament.

They earned a spot in the title contest with a 2-0 win April 10 over Houston Clear Lake in a state semifinal. East finished the season 23-4-3 overall and were 12-2 in district play.

“It’s the strangest combination of disappointment and (joy),” junior Lisa Sliwinski said afterwards. “I’m so proud of these girls. Nobody expected us to get this far. There are things we could have done differently in this ball game. It ended how it ended. Luck wasn’t on our side this time. We did all we could, and I expect to be back here next year.”

Said head coach Dawn Crow, “They play with a ton of heart. I loved the fact that we kept fighting, and we were just a split second off on (Polcari’s ) attempt.”

Southlake Carroll dictated the early tempo Saturday as they attacked the East goal with regularity, an assault that finally paid off when Leslie Shurtleff, the game’s MVP,  got control of the ball about 25 yards away from the net, maneuvered it into position and then scored with 23:44 left in the half.

For most of the first 40 minutes, the Lady Dragons were the more physical team, appeared quicker to the ball and also got off crisper passes.

East finally pressured the Carroll goal with about 16 minutes left, but was turned away.

They had another chance to tie it with 2:24 remaining, but Serena Hines’ shot was scooped up by a diving Schneider.
The Lady Dragons continued to attack the East goal early in the second half, an effort that paid off when Shurtleff's 40-yard free kick into the wind somehow found the back of the net with 24:42 remaining in the contest.

“The second goal was kind of a big shock, for the most part,” Crow said.

She added, “You kind of expected them to want to close it off quickly, so it was just a matter of us doing what we needed to do to make things happen. I think it took us a little bit longer than expected to get involved in the game.”

The second goal fired up the Lady Panthers, who pushed the ball into Carroll territory, with Polcari finally finding the left side of the net with 19:05 left.

“We came out out after halftime thinking we had nothing to lose and let’s go have fun with it, and we kind of got back on our heels,” Sliwinski said. “After that second goal, (we) kind of got our motors running.”

Polcari later attempted a 50-yard free kick with about 9:30 remaining that made it all the way to th e goal before Schneider grabbed it out of midair.

The Lady Panthers had two more chances to score after that, first on a Polcari 20-yard free kick that hit the crossbar with less than 3:00 left and then on her last-ditch shot.
“It’s a (hard) way to lose the last game, but only one team does go away with the chance to hold up the (championship) trophy,” Crow said. “It’s unfortunate, but let’s face it, nobody expected us to get here, and the girls fought like champs.”

Plano East blanks Clear Lake
The Lady Panthers earned a 2-0 win April 10 over Houston Clear Lake in a semifinal contest at the Round Rock ISD stadium. It was the Lady Panthers’ fifth shut out of the postseason.

“I guess it’s a little surreal,” Crow said after the win. “The girls have worked hard, and their hard work is paying off.”
Hines and Courtney Garner each scored, with Polcari getting the assist on Hines’ goal.

PESH spread the scoring around during the playoffs, something that pleased Crow.

“It helps us with Marissa (Holden) being hurt and not 100 percent,” the coach said. “You can’t focus on any one particular person, because any of them can score.”
Holden was hobbled by knee and hamstring injuries. When healthy she’s one of PESH’s top offensive threats.

She played for about 15 minutes against Clear Lake and saw limited action Saturday.

 

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