Sweet Home’s girls soccer team lost a tiebreaker game 3-1 in overtime to Elmira, in Cottage Grove, Monday evening for third place in the Sky-Em League.
Elmira and Sweet Home each had 5-5 records in league play. During the regular season, they each won one game.
With the loss, the Huskies are in fourth place, with a chance at the play-in round Friday or Saturday.
Battered and beaten up, with up to eight players off the field in some games, the Huskies got most of them back last week when they had to win games against Cottage Grove and Elmira on the road to tie Elmira for third place.
Oct. 18, the Huskies beat Cottage Grove 1-0 with a goal by Milah Weld three minutes into the second half.
Thursday, the Huskies beat Elmira 1-0 on a goal in the second half by Bethany Gingerich.
“We had to have it, and we did,” said Coach Ramiro Santana. “We know we can play them.”
Monday night, when the Huskies saw Elmira again, “we looked good,” Santana said.
Elmira scored five minutes into the game, Santana said. Weld put the ball into the net 17 minutes into the second half.
Neither team scored before the clock ran out, and the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Elmira shot the ball over goalie Hailey Nicholson’s head twice to win the game.
She has a hard time with it when a shot is high, Santana said. With lower shots, she makes amazing saves and gets them all.
The Huskies had their opportunities to score, Santana said, and they missed on a good opportunity to win the game.
Gingerich beat the defense, and Elmira’s keeper tried to jump on the ball, Santana said. It bounced over her head and Gingerich had a clear shot at the goal.
It just needed a small push, he said. She kicked it, and it went wide.
“We match them,” Santana said. “It just matters who has the most energy and who makes mistakes. We had our chances, and we just didn’t put it in.”
Santana is optimistic about post-season play and looking forward to a probably play-in game.
“i’ve got everybody back,” Santana said, with the exception of two girls out for the season. “It couldn’t be a better time to have everybody back.”
Some girls are still hurting, he said, but the team is at least 85 percent what it was when it started the season.
“If we get another game, we can compete,” he said. “Our girls are doing really great, playing really good. We’re ready to play anybody. It’s exciting.”
Santana is fairly sure the Huskies will get another game, but he doesn’t know where.
What happens next depends on how Monday’s games and Tuesday’s remaining regular season games affect statewide rankings.
If they get a game, it will be the firs time they play post season in five years, Santana said. “It’s a good feeling.