After falling behind top-ranked Iowa City West early in the second half, the Kennedy girls soccer team came back for a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory on Saturday morning at Kennedy.
The Cougars (5-1, 4-1 MVC) earned the victory over the Trojans (6-1, 5-1) just 15 seconds into the second overtime period when junior Grace Reinhart got the ball in the box and beat the keeper for the 2-1 win.
“Annie (Feltes) played me the ball and I knew the keeper couldn’t get there, so I hustled and scored,” Reinhart said. “The coaches told me to fly and so I just went and scored.”
In the overtime period, Kennedy was looking to take advantage of an injury sustained by a West defender late in regulation.
“We knew that one of their talented players got injured, so we were looking to expose their outside backs on either side and so we went in there with a game plan,” Kennedy Coach Homer Screws said.
Although the Cougars came away with the win, they were disappointed with how they played at times and felt that they had room to improve.
“We got the result, and that is the important thing,” Screws said. “I am impressed with how hard they worked. We didn’t execute as well as we wanted to, part of that is because of the talent of West High and how they played, but we didn’t have as much possession as I would like to have seen.”
After a scoreless first half, the Trojans took the lead early in the second half when Nicole Rondeau buried a free-kick from just outside the penalty box, putting the Cougars in a tough spot.
“We had to pull together, and we needed a lot of spirit and heart to finish the game,” Reinhart said.
With Kennedy trailing, it had to pull out all the stops to crack the tough Trojan defense.
“We basically decided to bypass the midfield and go with three forwards and try to get some of our most talented offensive players to combine and play off of each other,” Screws said. “They have been doing well in practice with that kind of pressure environment, we have been working on it and they executed. They just tried to put them under pressure and it worked.”
The Cougars found the back of the net in the 73rd minute when junior Hannah Palomo found freshman Kaela Dickerman on the right wing. Dickerman took it deep into the box and shot across the goal and in.
Kennedy was able to ride the momentum from that goal into the overtime.
“I think they were kind of energized,” Screws said. “They got better as the game went on and in overtime they really showed their character. Some of these players have been around and were involved in the state championship a couple of years ago and their level of play rose.”
Kennedy 2, Iowa City West 1
Goals -- Kennedy: Kaela Dickerman (73rd min), Grace Reinhart (91st min). Iowa City West: Nicole Rondeau (45th min). Assists -- Kennedy: Hannah Palomo, Annie Feltes.
