The THS Lady Dogs beat the Lady Hawks of Washington County 4-3 on March 13 in an away game that went into double overtime and was decided in a shootout.
“That game was a little too exciting,” head coach Jessica Ruarke said following the game.
WaCo jumped to an early lead, scoring the first goal a minute and a half into the game. The score remained in the Lady Hawks’ favor through much of the half, until Haley Oubre sent the ball into the net to tie the game with 15:04 remaining.
“Anna (Carrington) fed the ball to me, and the shot was almost a cross shot,” Oubre said after the game. “I was able to send it in high, into the top left corner of the goal, and I was really excited about it because I’ve always wanted to make a shot like that.”
In addition to an assist on Oubre’s goal, Carrington herself put the Lady Dogs ahead with a goal shot with 6:32 remaining in the half, and the score stood at 2-1 going into the halftime break.
Stubborn defense defined the second half of the game. Thomson appeared set to claim the victory when WaCo slipped a shot into the net with 54 seconds remaining in the game, tying the game at 2-2. It was the final goal during regulation play, and the game went into overtime play.
Neither team was able to generate a goal in the five-minute overtime period, sending the game into its second overtime. That overtime proved equally unproductive for both teams, and the game went into a shootout to determine a victor.
In a shootout, each team gets five shots at the goal. Five players are chosen from each team, and they take alternating shots against the opponent’s goalie.
WaCo shot first in the shoot-out, and failed to score. NeNe Williams was the first Lady Dog to take a shot in the shoot-out, and promptly slapped one past the WaCo keeper to give Thomson a 3-2 lead.
Neither team scored on their next two shots, then WaCo scored on their fourth shot of the shoot-out, again tying the game. Thomson was unable to generate a goal with their fourth shot, and WaCo failed to score on their final shot of the shoot-out, leaving the game tied with Thomson having one remaining shot on goal.
Betty Jones was Thomson’s final hope of the game. With the WaCo goalie set, Jones took two quick steps to the ball and sent it airborne. The WaCo keeper headed right, but Jones’ shot left and deep into the back of the net to give Thomson a 4-3 victory.
“I wanted to send it in a direction that the goalie wasn’t going to go,” Jones said. “Haley (Oubre) told me the keeper was going to her right, so I wanted to send it to her left, but really I just kind of kicked it where it went. It was awesome to get the game-winning shot, and very emotional for me. And I’d like to dedicate that shot to my daddy.”
Williams played keeper in the first half of the game and garnered eight saves. Chelsey Smith tended goal in the second half for nine saves. Oubre got six shots on goal, while Williams, Carrington, Makayla Mack, Ellen Wallace, Caitlyn Tam and Brea Boutwell each got one shot on goal. Boutwell received an assist on Williams’ goal, and Carrington assisted on Oubre’s goal.
