Free kick settles it as Bob Jones girls fall to Huntsville in overtime
Huntsville- Thursday night the Bob Jones girl’s soccer team showed just how much they have improved in the last month as they took the top-ranked Class 6A Huntsville Panthers to overtime. Earlier this season Huntsville beat Bob Jones by 2 goals to set up the much-anticipated rematch.
A Bob Jones player was flagged for tripping in the overtime period and Huntsville’s Kerry Dunn made them pay as she drilled a free kick over the wall of defenders and over the outstretched arms of Patriot’s goalkeeper Melissa Boylen. The ball glanced off the top bar of the goal and into the net to give Huntsville a 3-2 victory that all but wraps up first place in Section 8 for the Lady Panthers.
The loss means Bob Jones finishes third in Class 6A, Section 8. The first round of the playoffs is April 28.
“That ball came in just under the post and it is almost impossible to block. It was just a perfect shot,” said Bob Jones Coach Patrick Jacklin.
Despite the loss the Lady Patriots gained a lot of confidence in the way they played Huntsville, especially in the second half when the Patriots controlled the pace.
“I’m very proud of the way the girls played the whole game,” Jacklin said. “Huntsville is ranked the #1 team in the state and we came out and gave them everything we could give them. Hopefully we’re just building up momentum heading to the playoffs. On any given day we can play with anybody.”
After falling behind early, Bob Jones tied the game at the 20 minute mark in the first half. Hannah Snoddy continued her stellar play as she got a rebound header and kicked it home to surprise the Panthers with the equalizer.
Huntsville struck back quickly however at 15:26 as a center kick got deflected in the goal. The teams went to the break with Huntsville up 2-1.
Bob Jones came out more aggressive in the second half as the ball seemed to stay on their offensive end of the field. Huntsville’s defense was rarely out of position and consistently cleared the ball effectively. Bob Jones had two excellent scoring opportunities but Darby Rasch’s kick went high after a nice set up by Kat Baugh.
Baugh continued to press the attack as the game wound down in the final minute. A Huntsville clearing kick was blocked and landed at the feet of Hannah Snoddy who drilled it in the deep left pocket of the net for a tying score with 32 seconds left. The stunned Huntsville bench had to quickly regroup as the Patriots had seized the momentum heading into overtime.
“We just got to keep on improving a little bit every week,” Jacklin said. “If we can just step up our game just a little bit we should be ready when playoffs come. We proved we can play with Huntsville tonight.”
Jacklin again relied on veteran defenders Elle Bruno, Jenna Cecil, Jaime Leeds, and Chandler Austin who held Huntsville scoreless in the second half.
On offense, new stars have emerged from a group that had questions going into the season. Hannah Snoddy and Darby Rasch have teamed with veterans Kat Baugh and Sammy Manzo to provide scoring in bunches this season.
Jacklin keeps a positive tone with his players even in a loss.
“I’m real proud of the girls tonight. They did great,” he said.
Bob Jones has 4 more games left before the playoffs start. The furthest road trip of the four is to Sparkman next Tuesday. Grissom comes to Madison for a game on Thursday, April 19.
The Lady Patriots will again have to travel to the Birmingham area for the first round playoff game. Last year they defeated ClayChalkville 5-0 in the opening round and defeated Decatur in the second round. They advanced to the third round where they fell to Hoover 3-2, one win short of the State Tournament.
