St. C. girls take PK shootout playoff win

Photo by Kim North
St. Clairsville’s Olivia McKeever (2) chases after a loose ball during action Tuesday night against West Muskingum in an Ohio Division IV, Region 15 semifinal girls’ soccer match on the artificial pitch at McFarland Stadium in Cambridge. The Red Devils won, 1-0, after 110 minutes and four rounds of penalty kicks.

CAMBRIDGE — The old adage of ‘survive and advance’ during tournament time came into play Tuesday night.

After a pair of 40-minute scoreless halves of regulation and two 15-minute sudden-victory overtimes, St. Clairsville outlasted West Muskingum, 1-0, in a penalty-kick shootout in an Ohio Division IV, Region 15 girls’ soccer tournament semifinal on the artificial pitch before a spirited crowd at unseasonably warm McFarland Stadium.

With the coveted, hard-fought triumph, the Red Devils (14-5-1) will be entering chartered waters Saturday when they meet Worthington Christian at noon for the regional title at the West Muskingum Athletic Boosters Sports Complex in Zanesville. The Warrior edged Wheelersburg, 2-1, in overtime, also on Tuesday night.

“What a pain West M. was. They were tough and gritty,” St. Clairsville head coach Wes Stoner said. “I knew it was going to be a physical game, and it was every bit as physical as I anticipated.

“My young team played hard. We finally started to find our rhythm as the game progressed. Their goalie saved the day for them several times. We should have had three or four goals in regulation and overtime, but she made save after save.”

Following 110 minutes of scoreless action, both teams converted their first two penalty kicks as Jaisie St. Clair and Mikala Willett found the net for the Tornadoes (10-9-2), while Ashlynn Lednik and Isabella Cuningham scored for the Red Devils.

West Muskingum’s third shooter — Kaydance Bresett — fired a left-foot blast that St. Clairsville goalkeeper Kiya Kyer smothered. St. Clairsville’s Emma Gasber made it 3-for-3 with a laser to the right of Tornadoes goalkeeper Kyndall Fountain. After the Tornadoes hit the crossbar on their fourth attempt, the Red Devils’ Olivia McKeever ended things with a shot to the right of a diving Fountain that tickled the twine and ignited a wild celebration.

“I knew where I was going,” McKeever said of her game-winning shot. “I didn’t hit it just right, but I got enough of it to put it in.”

Penalty kicks are something that Stoner said his team practices daily.

“We work on them all the time. It’s just a matter of picking your spot and working on it all the time. If you put it towards the corner, it’s going in every time,” he said. “Tonight it paid off.”

West Muskingum outshot St. Clairsville 9-8 in regulation and 3-2 in the first OT. The Red Devils earned a 5-2 advantage in the second extra sessions, but nobody had dented the scoreboard as both Kyer and Fountain stood tall between the pipes. Kyer finished with 16 saves and extended her program-record of shutouts to 11. She hasn’t allowed a goal in the postseason in regulation time.

“There was a lot of pressure. I was going to dive to my left, but I’m glad I stayed where I was,” the sophomore said. “This was a huge win for us. The girls really did it.”

Stoner couldn’t have been more appreciative of Kyer’s effort.

“She was huge in goal again for us,” he said. “She may be tiny, but she comes up big time after time.”