Furious Rally Nets Evergreen a 3-2 OT Victory
Madison Early scored on a 40-yard free 2:35 into the first overtime late Friday afternoon to cap a furious rally and give Evergreen a 3-2 victory over the Providence Argos in Cascade Collegiate Conference women's soccer action at Black Hills High School.
The visiting Argos (6-6-1 overall, 4-5-0 CCC) looked to be in charge at the half, leading 2-0 after goals by Malena Lennon and Eme McLaughlin. Lennon tallied her sixth of the season, finishing at the far post from a Jenni Qualm cross 18 minutes into the contest. Eme McLaughlin made it 2-0 at the 27:06 mark, scoring her 15th of the campaign, the assist going to Sydney Knieriem.
After being outshot 9-4 in the first 45 minutes, the Geoducks (3-11-0, 2-7-0) started their comeback at 67:53 on the third goal of the season by Delaney Rice. She finished an Evergreen counterattack, taking a pass from Maddie Lockwood and scoring past Providence goalkeeper Dakota Neumann.
Providence nearly put the game away with a little less than nine minutes remaining, but Evergreen goalkeeper Megan Breckenridge knocked aside a shot by Lennon, who had gotten in free behind the Geoducks defense.
Still trailing by a goal in the waning moments, Evergreen got new life when Felicia Collins tied the score at the 88:55 mark. Her first goal of the season, an 11-yard strike from the middle of the box, came after Alyssa Nordman's header from a Rice corner kick was blocked by the Argos.
That set the stage for Early's dramatics, with Neumann deflecting her long range effort but not getting enough of the ball to keep it from finding the net. The goal was a near carbon copy of a goal Early scored last season against the same opponent, that one coming in Great Falls, Mont.
The three-goal effort ended a string of four straight shutouts of the Geoducks, and it also kept alive the team's playoff hopes.
"It was exciting stuff for us," Evergreen head coach Dave Morris said. "Hopefully it's a comeback that's kind of a signature game. The last time we played at Black Hills (a 3-2 overtime loss to Saint Martin's) we played really well and didn't get the result. This time we played really well, came back, showed some character. It's something we can build on."
Providence finished with a 15-9 advantage in shorts and an 8-3 margin in corner kicks. Both Breckenridge and Neumann finished the match with three saves.
Evergreen returns to action at 2 p.m. tomorrow when it hosts Carroll College at Black Hills HS.