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Colonial Forge’s Alexa Kaley (right) her eye on the ball as Mountain View’s Hannah Russ moves in to defend in Monday’s night’s game.
Colonial Forge’s Carina Llamosa (right) takes control of the ball as Mountain View’s Gretchen Reiten defends Monday night.
Malachi Pitts (10) of Colonial Forge maintains control of the ball as Mountain View’s Dylan Forrest defends during Monday’s boys’ game.
Mountain View’s Ryan Binali (left) battles Colonial Forge’s Frantz Fulcher for possession during Monday’s Subregion 6B final.
Colonial Forge was knocking on the door of securing a No. 1 seed in the Region 6 boys’ soccer tournament before Mountain View made its grand entrance on Monday evening.
Down 1-0 in the 67th minute, the Wildcats sent a free kick in the box that led to a perfect header into the back of the net from Darius Shipp, leveling the score at 1-1.
Shipp celebrated with his bench before shushing the home side as it looked like the Wildcats stole momentum.
However, the Eagles responded, with senior Malachi Pitts converting his second penalty kick of the match just three minutes later to secure a 2-1 win.
“My senior year, I felt like I had to put the team on my back sometimes,” Pitts said. “When my team is down, I know I have to be the one to bring the energy. .. I know they got my back and I got their back.”
Pitts, the district player of the year, continued his spectacular run of form for Forge (11-5-2).
The Eagles’ relentless pressure on attack forced the Wildcats (7-6-3) to counter often, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a road win.
“We put ourselves in a deficit giving up two penalties tonight,” Mountain View head coach Ryan Cypress said. “Fix the small things, fix the small details. … The guys played well, played with a lot of energy, a lot of intensity. We just have to get the small details right going forward.”
While both schools are advancing to regionals, Monday was about seeding. Colonial Forge got the No. 1 seed it was looking for, earning its first win against Mountain View this season.
Now, attention turns to the regional tournament, one that the Eagles will start at home against an opponent to be determined. Mountain View will open on the road.
“Any time you can play at home and not have to travel is important,” Colonial Forge head coach Adam Spineelli said. “This group, we just take one game as it comes to us. It doesn’t matter home or away. We’re going to do everything we can to compete and put our best effort out on the field.”
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Colonial Forge 2, Mountain View 1 (extra time)
As in the boys game, it came down to some late heroics to secure victory, but those heroics didn’t come until extra time, with the Eagles and Wildcats tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.
Sadie McIllece converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute to give Colonial Forge a hard-fought 2-1 win.
“I asked Nicole [Alvarado] first if she wanted it because she’s the one that earned it,” McIllece said. “She was like ‘No, you take it. You got it.’ … I went to the same side I always do.”
It was like clockwork for McIllece and the Eagles (13-2-1), securing a No. 1 seed going into the regional tournament, and from the opening kickoff, they were relentless on attack.
At the same time, Mountain View (8-5-5) gave itself numerous chances, including a near-equalizer at the stroke of halftime in extra time.
“The most important thing was for us to keep our team shape, to defend as a team and then pick our moments when to go forward on the counter,” Wildcats head coach Fernando Ramos said. “… It’s just a matter of not giving it up in dangerous moments to where they can counter.”
Despite an equalizer in the 35th minute from Wildcats sophomore Hannah Leininger, Colonial Forge dominated play for most of the night.
In the end, McIllece’s penalty in extra time was a massive sigh of relief and a reward after such consistent offensive success.
“All that hard work throughout the game just paid off,” Colonial Forge head coach Sarah Johnson said. “You could feel the girls were confident that they were going to get one. … I think that we create a lot of opportunities. If we can just figure out how to capitalize on them, we’ll build from there.”
Alex Murphy: amurphy@freelancestar.com
MONDAY’S SUBREGION 6B FINALS
Boys: Colonial Forge 2, Mountain View 1
Girls: Colonial Forge 2, Mountain View 1 (OT)
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Colonial Forge’s Alexa Kaley (right) her eye on the ball as Mountain View’s Hannah Russ moves in to defend in Monday’s night’s game.
Colonial Forge’s Carina Llamosa (right) takes control of the ball as Mountain View’s Gretchen Reiten defends Monday night.
Malachi Pitts (10) of Colonial Forge maintains control of the ball as Mountain View’s Dylan Forrest defends during Monday’s boys’ game.
Mountain View’s Ryan Binali (left) battles Colonial Forge’s Frantz Fulcher for possession during Monday’s Subregion 6B final.
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