GIRLS SOCCER: Wilson wins in penalty kicks

FISHERSVILLE — Wilson’s Lindsay Suyes walked slowly to the ball while listening to the referee’s instructions.

One shot and Wilson could advance to the Region B semifinals.

The whistle blew and Suyes kicked the ball to the corner past Madison keeper Tori Puryear.

“I was the last kicker and I was paying attention to the keeper to see what way she dove,” Suyes said. “I was so nervous I was crying. I was talking to Chloe [Cawiezel] and the defense and they said, ‘go for the corner, she doesn’t dive.’ ”

Suyes ran to her teammates, jumping into their arms to celebrate Wilson’s 2-1 victory over Madison County.

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on anyone,” said Wilson coach Scott Crist.

Wilson and the Mustangs had played for 100 minutes and a victor couldn’t be decided, forcing the game into penalty kicks with the scored tied at 1.

The Green Hornets took the first penalty kick of the round, sending sophomore Hannah Myers to the box. Myers sent the ball high and it trickled over Puryear’s fingers.

Madison’s Ivy Jacobs was next and missed, hitting the cross bar allowing Wilson to take a 1-0 PK lead.

Wilson’s Dee Deacon sunk the next shot, again just out of the reach of Puryear. On Madison’s next shot, Wilson keeper Brittany Reid stopped Madison’s Lindsay Wheeler.

“It’s a mental thing for me.” Reid said. “I love PKs. When I got tit the adrenaline went through me and I had to get all of them.”

Puryear kept Madison alive on the next PK stopping Carrie Thomas and Ashby Sealander gave the Mustangs one with a shot to the top shelf. Puyear stopped another shot Angelica Thacker.

Madison’s Samantha Cubbage nearly tied up the game, but her shot rang off the crossbar and Reid gobbled it up in front of the net to keep it from rolling in.

“It’s not luck,” Reid said. “It’s just strategy. I don’t want to give my strategy away but you just read their eyes and you just think what they are thinking.”

Suyes was the final player for Wilson. If she made her shot the match was over and Wilson would get a shot at Goochland in the semifinals. A miss would give Madison one more chance to tie it and send the match into another round of PKs. Suyes said she didn’t realize that her shot was for the match.

“It was,” she said. “I asked coach what the score was and he said, ‘don’t worry about it.’ ”

Crist joked that she did know.

“I think she did,” he said. I think she was playing opossum.”

Suyes also scored the Green Hornets’ only goal in regulation, breaking away from the Madison defense only two minutes into the first half.

The Wilson defense clamped down and kept Madison off the board until 10 minutes into the second half when Ashley Sealander fed a direct kick to Ivy Jacobs.

The game remained tied at one forcing extra minutes. After two five minute periods neither team scored and the game went into sudden death. Wilson had two shots in the first sudden death round, but Puryear kept Madison alive. Reid stepped up in the second round, stopping two hard Madison shots to force the PKs.

“Madison is a fine team,” Crist said. “Two good teams match up and this is what it came down to.”

Wilson will host Goochland on Wednesday in the Region B semifinals. Goochland defeated Nelson County 4-0 in the Region B quarterfinals.