After dramatic regulation and overtime, Troy Athens beats Berkley in PKs – The Oakland Press

Berkley’s Madi Bonsall (right) retrieves the ball while Troy Athens’ Alex Haggarty defends during the Division 1 district semifinals played Tuesday night at Seaholm High School. The Red Hawks won the match 3-2 (5-4 in PKs) and advanced to face Troy in the final on Thursday. (KEN SWART – for the MediaNews Group)

BIRMINGHAM – Troy Athens overtook Berkley Tuesday night at Seaholm High School thanks to two late comebacks and a perfect penalty kick, advancing to Thursday’s district final with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Bears that led to survival and advancement.

The Red Hawks took all five penalties, with goalkeeper Ashley Miller making a save in the second round of the shootout, ending a match filled with drama.

Berkley led twice with less than four minutes remaining, once in regulation and again in overtime. But in each case, the Red Hawks had an answer.

“Next is Troy High School. We just took it one game at a time. A huge shoutout to Ashley Miller, who played an important role for us in the shootout,” said Athens head coach Jason Clark. “But these girls’ fight, to go down twice, come back and then get back up and win in the shootout, was just unbelievable tonight.”

Berkley vs. photo gallery Troy Athens in the D1 girls soccer district semifinals

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After an up-and-down game with both teams taking turns taking the lead, the Bears finally tied the score with 3:28 left in regulation when Maeve Nolan found Madi Bonsall on the right side of the formation. Bonsall’s shot hit the woodwork, hit the top left corner and gave Berkley a 1-0 lead. The goal ended a period of Bears dominance that lasted about 10 minutes, and when it went in, the Bears seemed certain to play for the district title. But just 32 seconds later, the Red Hawks tied the game on a 20-yard shot from captain Lauren DeJonckheere to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Bears retook the lead in overtime when Nolan fired a long ball to Nora Sleeman, who fired a shot off the far post with 6:34 left in the first overtime period. Berkley managed the game well, but with 3:28 left in the second overtime, DeJonckheere had enough space to make a header to tie the game again.

“Lauren definitely saved us,” Clark said. “She was phenomenal today when we really needed her.”

Neither team seemed able to dominate for more than five or 10 minutes at a time as the game constantly changed pace. Overall, the Red Hawks did slightly better in the stats, but Berkley finished the game with just four fewer attempts, and both teams had several good opportunities to get on the board before finally breaking through.

“I am extremely proud of the performance. This time last year, and this time two years ago, we wouldn’t have been in a game like this, and I thought we did a great job of dealing with the waves of the game,” Berkley head coach Zach Hobson said. “And fair play to Athens, it’s a quality program with a lot of talent. But I think we did well.”

With the victory, Troy Athens (13-3-3) advances to Thursday’s district final, where it will face rival Troy. Three weeks ago during the league games, both teams drew 1-1.

“It’s tough. Berkley is a very good team, with a lot of talent at the top and a lot of pace, which gave us some problems. But it’s about the fight in these girls. They wanted this one today,” Clark said.