After a scoreless 80 minutes, the Willard Lady Tigers took out the Branson Lady Pirates just 94 seconds into overtime. Freshman Maddie McClendon put in a shot over the keeper’s head, giving the Lady Tigers the win, 1-0.
The Lady Tigers improve to 5-1 with the win.
With a 10-minute OT on the clock and no points on the board for either team, the Lady Tigers wasted no time. They pushed into the Lady Pirates’ territory and quickly gave McClendon the opening she needed.
McClendon took the shot on faith in her team.
“I just kind of went for it,” said McClendon. “I didn’t see an opening, but everyone was yelling shoot, so I trusted them.”
That trust paid off, with her shot from the left arcing over the keeper’s arms and into the net.
A gusty wind contributed to the game. The Lady Tigers had the wind in their faces the first half, which Coach Tim Magee admits played a factor.
“Wind was a huge factor,” said Magee. “The first half, we had trouble getting it out of our half–that and Branson being as aggressive as they were. Second half it was a little bit easier. Our goalie was able to punt the ball and get it to midfield nearly every time.”
The Branson Lady Pirates took plenty of shots with the wind at their backs in the first half, but the Lady Tigers made sure nothing connected. The Lady Tigers’ keeper, Joran Stout-Mitchell, made two back-to-back saves on foul shots late in the first half.
“Joran is doing fantastic. She is really progressing,” said Magee. “Branson was after us from the start. They played really well. We had some moments when we weren’t playing smart. But our defense is gradually starting to gel, which is a big thing as the season goes on.”
Wind was an issue for the Lady Pirates as well, as coach Brandon Scott explained.
“You never like to see a game influenced so much by weather conditions,” said Scott. “We kind of relaxed for a minute. The wind kept a ball in that they stayed on. We took a deep breath and they capitalized on it. So hats off to them; they played very well tonight.”
Willard travels to Poplar Bluff on Friday. Branson (7-3) hosts Marshfield on Thursday.
1 2 OT
Willard 0 0 1 –1
Branson 0 0 0 –0
