By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
150 minutes wasn’t enough for Saturday’s Class 3 quarterfinal matchup between Springfield Catholic and Rockwood Summit.
Scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods, the match moved to penalty kicks.
Claire McCarthy, Maria Domian and Mady Brown all converted successful attempts for Rockwood, propelling the Falcons to a thrilling, 1-0 victory.
“It’s such a crushing outcome for either team when it comes down to penalty kicks to go to the final four,” Fightin’ Irish head coach Ben Timson said. “It’s gonna take us a while to recover from this, but in the end, we’ll recover and we’ll move on.”
While Catholic’s bid for a 14th final four appearance came up just short, Timson was thrilled with his team’s performance against a daunting opponent.
“For us to come out today and play the way we played, with the heart we showed, the skill we showed and the toughness we showed – both mentally and physically – we just could not have played better today,” Timson said.
The fast, physical Falcon squad controlled the ball and played on Catholic’s half for most of the match, utilizing constant pressure and a deep bench to keep the host team on its heels.
“These large, St. Louis suburban Class 3 teams are just so well-drilled,” Timson said of the Fenton-based school. “They play competition at the highest level every game, and they’ve got so many club kids that play in the St. Louis soccer system.”
Following a conservative, cautious approach from both schools during the first half, Rockwood cranked up the pressure in the second, moving additional players up top and constantly subbing in fresh legs from a deep and talented bench.
The strategy was something Timson had expected.
“We had gone up to St. Louis and watched them play in their district final, and they did the same thing there,” Timson said. “At first, they were just kind of feeling out the opponent and then they kind of slowly build – bringing more and more and more players forward, which put us under a lot of pressure. What that tends to do is suck us back in, otherwise we’re outnumbered. We have to fall back and then, when it gets late in the game, we can’t get out in numbers.”
When Rockwood shifted tactics, the Irish defense proved to be up to the challenge and repeatedly turned back Rockwood’s shot attempts thanks to inspired play from senior goalkeeper Haley Brown.
Brown tallied a whopping 18 saves during the contest on 26 shot attempts under constant pressure throughout the latter stages.
Timson wasn’t surprised by his goalkeeper’s heroics.
“(Brown) has just had an incredible career for us,” Timson said. “She’s been our goalkeeper every game for the last four years, and she’s just performed phenomenally. Everything we needed her to come up with today, she came up with. That’s just Haley – we kind of expect that from her.”
Limited to only seven shots on goal, Catholic’s best scoring opportunity came on a pair of back-to-back corner kicks in the final two minutes of regulation; however, the Irish were unable to sneak a ball past Rockwood goalkeeper Kate Lawler.
Despite the hampered offensive output, Timson praised his team for its inspired play and finish to the 2024 campaign.
“The season these girls put together was just incredible,” Timson said. “I could not be more proud of what they did this year. Today – the heart they showed – they just left it all out on the field and, just as we sometimes say, we all have a love-hate relationship with this game, because it can give you the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows.”
Catholic and its four seniors – Brown, Maddie Meyer, Olivia Swisshelm and Kennedi Roubal – end the season at 20-6-1.
