One mistake from Hays was all Carroll needed to score the game-winning goal. Lacey Pfannenstiel was stride-for-stride with a Carroll player, fighting for the ball when she committed a penalty in the goalie’s box. Jessica Rogers lined up the penalty kick.
“I was so nervous going into that kick,” said Rogers. “There’s like this weight on your shoulders. This could be the game-winning kick. We practice (penalty kicks) every single practice.”
She stared at the opposite side of the goal she was going to shoot. It’s something she always does, to “psych out the goalie.”
Immediately as the whistle blew, Rogers sprinted forward, struck the ball and a diving Laura Truman couldn’t stop it from flying past the goal line into the net. Carroll was up 1-0, and it would remain that way for another fifteen minutes until the final buzzer sounded.
Before the consolation match, Carroll played 18 games and held a win-loss record of 16-2. Both losses came at the hands of St. Thomas Aquinas by a score of 1-0 each time. On Saturday, the Lady Golden Eagles earned its 18th shutout of the season.
Carroll allowed three goals all year, two of which were scored by Aquinas, the eventual state champion. The other came when Wichita Trinity scored a goal in a 2-1 Carroll win. Trinity played for the class 4-1A state title, but lost to Topeka Hayden 4-1.
“To only allow three goals all year,” said Coach Greg Rauch. “It’s something I’ve personally never seen before. Our defense has been unbelievable all year.”
Part of the reason Rauch was glad Rogers made the kick was because his team ended the year on a win. The other reason was so the two teams didn’t have to go to overtime.
“I don’t think I could have made it through the overtime,” said Rauch. “It was just a matter of what you saw today were two teams that were exhausted and it was what they had left to give on the field.”
Rauch wasn’t alone in his exhaustion, though.
“I was so relieved (there wasn’t an overtime),” said Rogers. “I feel like our team worked really hard this weekend and it’s so hot. I think we left everything on the field.”
Physical play dominated the game as a few yellow cars were handed out along with countless free kicks. A physical play decided the game.
“That was not what I was expecting,” said Rauch. “I think the physical play was a result of the ladies being so tired. Instead of running out a play, you just kind of make the contact and sometimes it’s the bad contact.”
Aquinas takes down Mill Valley 4-1
St. Thomas Aquinas, the bane of Carroll's existence in recent years, won the state title yet again Saturday by defeating Shawnee Mill Valley 4-1.
The Lady Saints took a 2-1 lead into halftime
