By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It was a fitting finish for two schools located just eight miles apart that have played so many close games in recent years.
Locked in a 1-1 tie through regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods, it took penalty kicks to decide a winner between Webb City and Carl Junction on a rainy Wednesday night in Neosho.
The Cardinals never missed and edged the Bulldogs 4-3 to win the Class 3 District 12 championship –Webb City’s first since 2018.
“Honestly I would expect nothing less,” Webb City coach Nick Harmon said. “Any time we match up with CJ they bring their absolute all and give us a really hard game so credit to them. It was hard fought on both sides but fortunately for us we came out on top.”
The coach said he might celebrate with a glass of water, and “a fun bus ride home celebrating with a lot of people I care about.”
Carl Junction won the coin toss before the shootout and started with junior Tessa Miller, who scored in the left corner of the goal. Webb City senior Malia Blair followed with a goal to the right, then Carl Junction sophomore Allie Wrestler snuck one past the keeper to make it 2-1. Webb City senior Mileah Metcalf tied it up, and after Carl Junction sophomore Hannah Jones missed high, Cardinals senior Haven Stanley gave her team a lead.
Carl Junction junior Kadynce Arnold scored to her right to cut it to one, but Webb City senior Sage Cranford made it 4-for-4 for the Cardinals. Bulldogs freshman Hailey Merwin followed with another miss high to end it.
With the win, Webb City avenged a 2-1 overtime loss to Carl Junction in the 2019 district finals.
“We beat them two years ago on two PK’s,” Bulldogs coach Ed Miller said. “One in overtime and one in regulation to beat them 2-1. So then we get back to PK’s again this year. Our girls did a great job. It was just a knock down, drag out fight. We both had some chances going back and forth. It was like a heavyweight fight. Just proud of our effort. Everybody left it on the field today and they should be proud of what they did tonight.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Webb City, 21-3, trailed in the 68th minute when Carl Junction, 14-11, made it 1-0 on an unassisted goal by junior Lauren Burgess. A minute later, the Cardinals tied it when freshman Cree Vaden bounced one over the keeper.
Carl Junction keeper Chrissy Figueroa made one of multiple diving saves with about three minutes left in regulation. The Bulldogs had a free kick from 30 yards out a couple minutes later but missed high.
And Webb City had a corner kick with 10 seconds on the clock but couldn’t knock it in.
“I think both sides know each other so well, we know each other’s tendencies,” Harmon said. “The girls know each other personally and nobody wants to make that fatal mistake so it ends up being a careful match and both sides I think do a good job of disrupting the other side’s ability to establish a flow. Credit to CJ, they did a good job of that tonight with us.”
Miller said Figueroa might have broken her finger Tuesday in practice but still made some great saves.
“She did a great job, kept us in the game and made some really big saves late and some overtime saves too,” he said. “The girls just did a great job. After this year hopefully we have a little fire lit in us. We only had two seniors, we’re going to miss them but hopefully we come back a little stronger next year and we do what we need to do to take care of business. Webb City played great, we played great. When you get to a PK shootout it’s just a coin toss for who’s going to win.”
Harmon said this has been the program’s best season ever already but “we have higher aspirations than this so we’re going to regroup tomorrow and go back into next week with some momentum.”
Webb City will face Willard (10-14) in the sectional round May 25. The Cardinals won the regular season contest 6-0.
“I know they’re a good team and we handled them in regular season but in the postseason it’s a different animal and they have a really good goal scorer we’re going to have to work hard to contain,” Harmon said. “If we do that then we’ll take care of business.”
