Lincoln East senior Amanda Finnell had never been the winning goalie for a shootout during a varsity soccer match prior to Thursday, but she has now.
Finnell made one of the best decisions — a dive to her right — and plays of the season to help Lincoln East win a match and qualify for the state tournament.
The Class A fifth-ranked Spartans beat No. 10 Millard North 2-1 in a shootout on Thursday in an A-4 district final that was the first match of a tripleheader at Seacrest Field.
East won the shootout 5-3. The biggest moment of the match came in the third round of the shootout, when Finnell made a diving save to her right to block the shot of Julia Dooley.
Finnell was the junior varsity goalie the previous two seasons, and East had lost its only shootout match this year, against Kearney.
People are also reading…
But Finnell was feeling good going into the shootout.
“The only reason I like shootouts is because it gives me something to do, because I get bored sometimes,†Finnell said. “So it’s just an adrenaline rush, and a fun environment. The fans were going crazy, which was awesome.â€
On the winning save, Finnell correctly predicted to which side of the goal Dooley would shoot.
“I knew where she was going and I just went with my gut and I got it,†Finnell said.
East made all five of its attempts in the shootout, by Josie Arduser, Elizabeth Guevara, Briley Hill, Delaney Roberts and Haley Peterson.
Both of the goals in regulation came during the first half. East took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when Peterson scored with a shot just inside the post from about 15 yards after a corner kick.
Millard North tied the match when Emerson Henry scored off a corner kick with six minutes left in the first half.
East last made it to the state tournament in 2014, and had lost in the district championship match each of the previous four years.
There was a time when East was the best girls soccer program in Lincoln, and the Spartans won back-to-back state titles in 2004 and ’05. But in the past 10 years Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln Southeast have had the better teams most seasons.
This year East had a better regular season and earned a No. 1 seed for districts, giving itself a better chance to make state.
“We play the game to get to state, and these girls haven’t been there in over five years. None of these kids have been to state,†said Lincoln East coach Chuck Morgan, who got his 200th career win Thursday. “It’s the mythical end. That’s Disneyland, man.â€
This was maybe the most interesting district championship match of the year. Millard North was the defending state champion, but after having a 7-8 record during the regular season, the Mustangs had to go on the road and win a district to get back. Millard North was also hurt the most of any team by the decision of a club team in Omaha to join a development academy league that prevents players from playing high school soccer.
Millard North is just the second team in 32 years of Class A girls to not make it back to the state tournament the year after winning the championship. Millard North had made state each of the previous 16 years.
For the shootout, Millard North replaced starting goalkeeper Gracie Schweers with backup Myla Beckstrom.
“We missed a lot of opportunities that we probably should have finished to not get to (a shootout), but it is what it is now, and East played well and they deserve to move on,†said Millard North coach James Abueg.