HAWKS WIN PK THRILLER TO ADVANCE TO GOLD MEDAL GAME
AMHERSTBURG, ON: The Humber Hawks, by way of their 2-1 (3-2 PK) OCAA Semi Final win over the Seneca Sting on Friday evening, have advanced to the gold medal game on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks will face the Algonquin Thunder, who also needed extra time to move on to the title game.
The winner of the Humber and Algonquin match will also punch their ticket to the CCAA Championships in two weeks.
In what could have been the most thrilling game in Hawks women's soccer history, Humber was facing elimination and a trip to the bronze medal game. What happened in the last seconds of regulation will be talked about for years to come.
Down 1-0 early in the second half to the Sting, a team the Hawks were unable to beat this season, Rebecca Spratt converted a pass from Zoe Longsworth at the 89:55 mark of the game.
With just a minute or two of extra time running out quickly, overtime was destined for both clubs.
The two teams battled most of the two extra periods in the middle of the pitch, with no teams getting a significant scoring opportunity.
Enter the dreaded shootout.
It looked like Humber had the chance to run away with the win, but they followed two Seneca misses with two of their own with the PK's tied at one. Seneca scored, then Giulia Zanardi stepped up to tie the game. Vanessa Fiore made an outstanding stop on the last Seneca shooter, and set up Stephanie Gutierrez to be the hero.
Gutierrez, the Hawks Player of the Game, guessed right and drifted the ball into the left side of the net while the Sting keeper chose the other direction. As the ball crossed the line, Gutierrez slid to the ground in tears, and was then mobbed by her teammates.
Penalty Kicks:
Seneca: goal/miss/miss/goal/miss
Humber: goal(Mackie)/miss/miss/goal(Zanardi)/goal(Gutierrez)
