Lenox Advances in Penalty Kick Shootout

LENOX, Mass. – The Lenox and Academy of Notre Dame girls soccer teams Monday combined for 12 goals in the first 59 minutes of play.

 

Then, the defenses took over.

 

And Lenox junior Audie Tresp made the biggest defensive plays of all in a penalty kick shootout win that propelled the Millionaires to the Division 5 State Tournament Round of 16.

 

Jane Elliot scored four goals on a night when the program celebrated her reaching the 100-point mark for her career.

 

And, after an offensive explosion that saw the teams tied at 6-6 with 21 minutes, 15 seconds left in regulation, they went through that 21 minutes plus 20 minutes of sudden-death overtime still knotted at six goals apiece.

 

That meant a best-of-five PK shootout, where Tresp stopped the first two shots by Notre Dame to backstop Lenox to a 3-2 victory.

 

Those saves capped a stretch in which Tresp made a number of big plays to keep the match tied late.

 

With fewer than five minutes to go in regulation, she stopped Notre Dame’s Natalya Raiford (four goals) on a breakaway opportunity. With about five seconds left in the second OT, Tresp came off her line to again deny Raiford and send the game to PKs.

 

“One on one, she was making saves, punching the ball out,” Lenox coach Nicole Gamberoni said. “They were getting corners, and we were just able to clear them. It really could have gone either way tonight.”

 

And it went both ways on the scoreboard throughout the night.

 

The Lancers had 10th-seeded Lenox (10-8-1) on its heels right from the start, scoring in the third minute off a corner kick, and again with Raiford’s first goal to make it 2-0 in the 10th minute of play.

 

The Millionaires then tied it with a pair of goals in a span of four minutes. First, Elliot got on the board with an assist from Cate Welch. Then a shot by Elliot from the right wing went off the post to eighth-grader Morgan Chevalier, who finished to level the score.

 

Notre Dame went up again just two minutes later with a goal at the 22:12 mark to make it 3-2.

 

But Lenox closed a wide open first half with two goals to take a lead at half-time – both from Elliot, the second time on a rebound off Notre Dame keeper Kaylin Ruiz (15 saves).

 

“I’m super proud of her,” Gamberoni said of Elliot, who celebrated her milestone with her teammates after the win. “She’s definitely a top player, but she doesn’t do it in a selfish way. She’s very modest about it, which is awesome.

 

“She’s a great player and a great kid.”

 

After combining for seven goals in the first half, the teams combined for five more in the first 18:45 of the second half.

 

Notre Dame again got off to a fast start with a goal in the 48th minute, and Raiford added two in a span of 2:17 to retake the lead at 6-4 with 24:57 to play.

 

Gamberoni called a timeout, and Lenox scored just 45 seconds later when Elliot converted from the top of the 18 to make it 6-5. Chavalier then tied the game off a cross from Lila Kousch with 21:15 left in regulation.

 

Lenox’s best chance to end it in regulation came in the 76th minute, but Elliot’s direct free kick from about 22 yards went high of the mark. At the other end, Tresp and her defense held its own through regulation and the OTs.

 

Lenox’s Julia Zanin started the shootout with a goal, and Tresp made a stop in her first try.

 

Kousch gave the Millionaires a 2-0 lead, and Tresp kept the margin with a leaping, one-handed save.

 

Elliot was successful in her turn, and Notre Dame got on the board to stay alive at 3-1.

 

Ruiz then made a stop for the Lancers, and Mackaylee MacCormack’s goal kept Notre Dame alive to the final round at 3-2.

 

But neither teams’ fifth kicker could put the ball on frame, and Lenox emerged with the win and a Thursday date at No. 7 Norfolk Aggie, a 6-0 winner over Old Colony on Monday.

 

Despite matching its season high for goals allowed, Lenox walked off the field knowing its defense was key to the victory.

 

“Their No. 19 on their team, she’s wicked good,” Gamberoni said of Raiford. “She’s so fast, dynamic. She has ball control as well. We had a tough time without Reeva Patel tonight trying to defend that. But I’m so proud of all the girls. Everybody stepped up in her absence.”

 

Photos from this game to come.