LANSING — With 88 minutes of scoreless soccer elapsed between the undefeated Lansing and Dryden girls teams on Wednesday evening, it was certainly going to take a bit of brilliance to break the deadlock.
Late into the first period of overtime, Lions freshman Taylor Bennett provided it.
Bennett’s acrobatic right-footed volley on the end of a cross from classmate Hannah Wildenstein with 2:45 left in the first period of overtime gave the visiting and undefeated Lions a 1-0 victory over the Bobcats in a physical and tense night of Interscholastic Athletic Conference soccer played in part under the lights in Lansing.
“It’s a great team we beat,” said Dryden coach Janine Bennett, mother of both Taylor and her older sister, senior Leighann. “I think the last couple of years it’s been all about our mental, the sports psychology. It’s always been right there with us. At the end the mental toughness it what we’ve been lacking. Both teams are really young. It was just a fantastic game for both teams to be able to handle the intensity.
Both teams had been on a tear entering Wednesday’s contest, outscoring their first seven opponents a combined 44-3. And while Lansing (4-1) kept the ball inside Dryden territory for long stretches of the game, the visitors always looked capable of finding the back of the net.
After both goalkeepers came out well to quell scoring opportunities in the opening minutes, the pair combined on the best two chances of the first half.
With 15 minutes played, Leighann first set Taylor through on goal with a perfectly weighted through ball, although the senior striker would be put off just enough by Lansing sophomore Maura McCartney’s last-ditch effort to allow Bobcats sophomore goalie Sarah Gisler to make a play on the ball.
The game lost none of its intensity in the second half, as Lansing posted one of its best scoring chances.
Sophomore forward Shea McCartney, the host team’s most threatening player Wednesday, sprinted 50 yards down the right flank of the Dryden defense, but, after waiting for the last possible moment to pull the trigger, had her point-blank shot saved well by Lions sophomore goalie Alissa Patte.
The Lions’ best chance of the second half would follow just a few minutes later, as Hannah Wildenstein’s cross into the box was a few inches too long for an outstretched Taylor Bennett, and after the Bobcats failed to clear, Maggie Cole’s curling effort from outside the box drifted just wide of the post.
Finally, the game’s first goal came late in the first period of overtime, as Wildenstein carried the ball down the sidelines before sending a cross into the box. As the ball drifted in, Taylor Bennett, despite being closely marked, left her feet and send a crisp full volley into the back of the net.
“I was thinking I had to get in front of that defender,” Taylor Bennett said. “I just had to do it. Mom’s been riding me all season about doing that. I’ve been hiding behind them (defenders) a lot so in my head it was just get in front. It’s a great feeling.”
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