One mistake can change the game when two great teams meet, and that’s what happened in the Class C state semifinal Saturday at Homer High School. The Cincinnatus girls soccer team was locked in a dead heat with Section II powerhouse Stillwater, when one costly error proved to be the difference.
A misplay defensively resulted in a Stillwater shot that was saved, but goalkeeper Sidney Glover fumbled the ball. As she went to pounce on it, a Cincinnatus defender went to clear the ball and hit Glover. The ball bounced right to Bridget Coon, who slammed it home with 2:02 left in the first half to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Stillwater held onto that lead the rest of the way for a 2-1 victory. The Warriors will move to the state final at noon Sunday against Section V champion Byron-Bergen, which beat Section IX champion Burke Catholic 4-0.
The Warriors built a 2-0 lead with 5:05 left in the game as the Lions started to push forward in desperation. Stillwater’s Brooke Hodgson slipped behind a high Cincinnatus defensive line and buried a goal that seemed to take the life out of the Lions’ crowd.
Payton Landers got the fans right back into it, as she put away a Cassia Schuyler pass just 26 seconds after Hodgson’s goal to make it a one-score game again.
The final 4:39 was mayhem, with both teams giving 100% effort to get the ball. Cincinnatus ultimately couldn’t find another clean shot and suffered its first loss in 734 days.
“I think the girls could’ve been a little more positive throughout,” Cincinnatus head coach Lisa Sustad said. “We talked about that at halftime and then we started seeing it more in the second half with talking and playing our game, but it is what it is.”
The Lions had a few good opportunities it couldn’t capitalize on. Lucy Finch hit a shot over the Stillwater goal just 2:45 into the second half after a scramble in the box and Ava Larrabee put a free kick between the crossbar and field goal post with 10:20 to play.
Schuyler also went down hard with 7:16 left in the game as Cincinnatus attempted to put offense together. She appeared to get sandwiched by a pair of Stillwater defenders and stayed on the field for a few minutes. Schuyler was unable to put weight on her right leg coming off the field, but returned a few minutes later with a limp to help get her team back within a goal.
Cincinnatus finished its season with a 21-1 record, having outscored opponents 142-7. Lots of key contributors will be back next year, but Schuyler, Larrabee, Glover, Mandi Waltz and Kaedance Latta are all seniors. An emotional Sustad couldn’t put into words after the game how much that group means to the program.
“We’re definitely going to miss them,” Sustad said.
