Cam Woods’ winning goal in overtime sent No. 2 Freeport to the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals in a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 7 North Catholic (13-6) on Saturday.
Woods channeled her inner Landon Donovan, dribbling and evading two Trojanettes defenders before shooting. After the ball hit opposing goalkeeper Jules Tralongo’s hands, it bounced in.
“I hit the post, I got nervous,” Woods said. “But it happened, and we’re going to the semis.”
The Yellowjackets (17-1) will face No. 3 Quaker Valley (15-2-1) in the semifinals at a time, date and site to be determined.
From the moment the whistle blew, North Catholic’s defensive mindset was as clear as day: stop Woods. The Trojanettes, at times, had three defenders dedicated to Woods, who entered the game with 20 goals this season.
This defensive strategy created chances for Woods’ teammates. Woods, draped with two defenders, floated a ball to sophomore Elena Jenkins, who had Tralongo in front of her. Jenkins buried the ball in the right side of the net to put the Yellowjackets up 1-0.
North Catholic had an offensive weapon of its own in Simone Sharpless, a Western Michigan commit. Once the Trojanettes gained possession, Sharpless deked between defenders and nailed a top-of-the-net shot to even the score 1-1.
With 18:31 left in the first half, senior midfielder Peyton Los nailed a pinpoint strike at the top-right corner of the net, right over Tralongo’s head, for her team’s second goal.
Minutes later, North Catholic’s Megan Heinbach sent a cross toward the goal on the right side. There were two Freeport defenders in the area, but Nina Bond hustled past both of them for a speedy goal to level the match.
“We just got to watch giving up the opportunities that we’ve given up,” Freeport coach Steve Kukic said. “A lot of it’s from mistakes that we made that they got their scoring opportunities.”
Bond scored again on a precise shot to give her team its first lead of the match. Following her second goal, Bond’s teammates mobbed her while she just admired the feat.
North Catholic coach DJ Sharpless commended his girls’ effort but also made a point to say his team and Freeport’s shouldn’t have even played.
“We were not a No. 7 seed; they should have had the No. 1 seed,” Sharpless said. “You look at our section, there were four teams left today, out of eight in our section. They’ve got to figure it out one day.”
Whereas the first half was a shootout, most of the second half was an offensive stalemate. Freeport still maintained possession for the majority of the half but couldn’t translate it into goals.
The Yellowjackets needed Woods to be the hero. In search of her 21st goal of the season, Woods had a free kick and sailed a shot from the 30-yard line over Tralongo’s head with 14:10 remaining in regulation. Overtime was needed, and, once again, Freeport controlled the pace of play. And once again, Woods came to the rescue.
“It was tough because we were tired. We didn’t sub a lot today,” Kukic said. “So, I mean, she was out there, and I could tell that she was dragging. And for her to hit that free kick and score to tie it … it was remarkable.”