GOSHEN - Postseason wins usually garner exciting endings and large celebrations, it's just that Wawasee may have expected that sort of ending in later rounds.
Tuesday's last match of the opening round of the Bethany Christian Sectional ended with 2-1 Wawasee Warriors victory over the Bethany Christian Bruins on penalty kicks.
"It was definitley a more lackluster game than we would have liked," Wawasee coach Dodd Cunningham said. "We didn't want it to end up this way and we didn't think it would this way. But when it came down to it, they focused, they held their own and they concentrated."
Following regulation, Bethany and Wawasee completed their two seven-minute overtime periods still tied at 1-1, forcing the sectional match into a penalty kick shootout. In that session, Wawasee's Francisca Hoffmann, Kaitlin Cunningham, Kylee Ort and Brennan McAdams all made their kicks, while Bethany missed on two attempts, resulting in a 4-2 Wawasee advantage and win.
"It was real nice to get those kicks, because I know every girl was pretty nervous up there," Cunningham said of his penalty kick shooters.
Of all the girls, it may have been Ort who had the most jitters. After spending the entire match in the field, the junior was inside the net during the penalty kick session, taking the place of freshman Amy Walker, who had finished regulation with five saves.
"Amy's been doing a great job in goal through the season, and it's been great to have Kylee on the field," Cunningham said. "She's really contributing a lot. But when it comes down to those quick, little shots, Kylee has quicker reaction. I think they both understood that."
And those quick reactions showed on Bethany's fourth attempt.
Having already missed the opening penalty kick, Bethany's fourth shooter, freshman Sharisse Yoder, had her shot denied when Ort dove to her left, batting the ball away, sealing the opening round victory.
"I was really proud of our girls," Bethany coach Dennis Yoder said. "They fought to the end. It's a shame it had to go into PKs, but Wawasee's a good team. I give them a lot of credit. They worked hard, it's just unfortunate it had to end like this (for us)."
The tough loss could have been made a little bit tougher had a few Wawasee shots gotten past Bethany goalkeeper Kelly Nicole Snyder. On the night, Wawasee held a heavy advantage in terms of having the ball offensively, but of their 26 shots, only one got through, that coming off the foot of junior Brennan McAdams in the 17th minute off an assist from senior Kaitlin Cunningham.
"I think we pretty much dominated the game," coach Cunningham said. "(Bethany) had a quick transition though. When they'd get the ball, they'd move their forwards up and they'd move it up quick, and they got us on one of those."
That one came when Bruins junior Casey Snyder found a way to speed past the Warrior defense in the 61st minute, resulting in the 1-1 match. Snyder's shot on goal was only Bethany's sixth of the night, as Wawasee's defense kept the Bruins in check all night.
"The defense has been doing very well, they've been strong," Cunningham said.
And that defense may have frustrated the Bruins, but it didn't make them give up.
"I just told them to keep fighting and not give up," Yoder said. "As long as we could be aggressive, talk to each other and communicate, we'd be right there at the end. I think the girls did that."
No matter how close the win was, the win was a win and pits Wawasee against Lakeland in the 7 p.m. sectional semifinal Thursday at Bethany Christian High School. In Tuesday's first match, Lakeland advanced on with a 3-2 win over West Noble.
The Wawasee-Lakeland semifinal will be a rematch of the Warriors' 5-1 win over Lakeland on Aug. 14 in LaGrange.
"They have a couple pretty good players, they have a couple strong players," Cunningham said of Lakeland.
"I'm sure Thursday, we'll look a little better than we did the first time we played them in the season," he added.
And Cunningham's hoping his team will look a little better with each passing postseason match.
"Hopefully we get through these next two games of sectional without that situation," Cunningham said of not having to shoot penalty kicks to win another sectional match, with the championship set for 7 p.m. Saturday. "Hopefully, if we shoot 20 times, we score a few goals instead of one."
WAWASEE 2, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 1 (PKs)
W - Brennan McAdams (Kaitlin Cunningham assist) 17th min.
B - Casey Snyder (unassisted) 61st min.
Shots - Wawasee 26, BC 9
Shots on Goal - Wawasee 13, BC 6
Saves - Wawasee (Amy Walker) 5, BC (Kelly N. Snyder) 11
Corner Kicks - Wawasee 5, BC 4
Penalties (Yellow Card) - Wawasee 4, BC 6 (Marissa Weldy)
