TSA Girls Lose In Double Over Time

By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

The twelfth seeded Ladies from The Sharon Academy have nothing to hang their heads about in their playoff loss to fifth seeded Golden Horde last Wednesday in West Rutland. Trailing 2-zip at the half, it was a determined group that appeared to take their namesake literally upon returning to the field. Like the mythological Egyptian bird that after 500 years consumed itself by fire and rose renewed from the ashes, so too did TSA in the second half of their 3-2 (2 OT) attempt.

The Golden Horde built a 2-0 lead while dominating play during the first half when freshman Toni Grimaldi scored first at 21:00 off an assist from Katie Lincoln. Lincoln followed the assist with a goal of her own at 10:21 for West Rutland’s first half tally. TSA’s Robin Spencer and Heather Skehan came close but were unable to make a connection.

Returning from the break, TSA Phoenix was a changed team. On the attack, they pressed and played aggressively, storming the cage and out shooting their hosts in an overall bid to even the playing field. But nothing went in until 29:55 when Ada DeFriez "blasted" one past keeper Emily Sumner. And with energy to spare the Phoenix continued to hammer away at their opponents.

With only 31 seconds remaining, leading TSA scorer Heather Skehan stopped the clock and West Rutland in their tracks with a "shock and awe" goal that tied the game and forced the game into overtime just 29 seconds later. During the first 10-minute overtime, Sharon never gave West Rutland a break as Lydia Wood, Ana Fischer-Byrne, Lily Carter and Bekah Woodin all bombed away at Sumner, taking near-miss shots. The Golden Horde, on the other hand, only managed a one-shot threat in the extra session that Phoenix net-tender Emily Chadwick body-buried for the save.

Things changed in the second overtime as West Rutland refocused and reinvested in themselves. A feed from Ashley Bathalon to Lincoln was all that was needed as Lincoln nabbed the golden goal of the game and her second in the outing, by ramming the ball in the box and past Chadwick.

TSA finishes the season 5-9-1 while West Rutland improves to 9-5-2 and heads to the quarter-finals where they will face the fourth seeded Danville Indians.

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