Rosati-Kain Kougars Edge Out Clayton Greyhounds, 1-0

The Rosati-Kain Kougars girls soccer team fought hard for their 13 win of the season: The Kougars edged the Clayton Greyhounds 1-0 on Wednesday after two overtimes and penalty kicks in a non-conference contest at Clayton.

Rosati-Kain improved to 13-2 while Clayton dropped to 6-3. The following day, Clayton fell 1-3 to Webster Groves.

“We’ve come up against a bunch of teams in conference that have prepared us for physical play,” Kougars coach Bill Taylor said. “We feel your speed, especially on a turf field like this, plays to our strength.”

Wednesday's score was tied 0-0 after 80 minutes of regular time and two 10-minute overtimes. Penalty kicks followed.

During the penalty-kick phase, players from each team attempt to score by kicking the ball into the goal from a mark 12 yards from the goal. Each team’s goalkeeper is allowed to defend the goal. The team that scores the most goals is credited with one goal in the final scoring.

All four of Rosati-Kain’s penalty kickers—Kadi Dieringer, Jill Griebel, Celsey Royer, and Michelle Scally—scored goals in penalty kicks.

“It was very nerve racking,” Scally said about being the last penalty kicker of the game. “My freshman year, I missed a PK. So I went up there thinking I had to make up for it. I tried to stay as calm as possible and visualize it going in.”  

Taylor said penalty kicks are “mental and in the player's head.”

“It’s about preparing for pressure situations and being able to perform when the occasion rises,” he said. “I was extremely thrilled with our girls' performance, we made every shot.”

For Clayton, Christina DeFelice and Karley Woods successfully made penalty kicks.  Rosati-Kain goalkeeper Katy Kessler deflected shots by Allison Bayly and Emily Widder.

The contest happened on both sides of the field in both the first half and the second. Clayton had two shots on goal in the first half while Rosati-Kain had one. A shot by Royer, made with 22 minutes left in the second half, flew over the top of the goal. Each team had three shots on goal in the second half.

Clayton coach Paul Hoelscher said he thought his team “played really well overall” but “had some opportunities in the first half and didn’t finish.” Clayton midfielder Abby Rivard left the game with an injury with 27:55 left to play.

The Kougars made a change in their offense and challenged Clayton in the two overtimes: Dieringer moved from midfield to forward. Taylor said the move opened up more space in the midfield and put more pressure on Clayton’s backs.

“It made us more offensive so we could get more shots in,” Dieringer said.   

Rosati-Kain had two shots on goal in the first overtime and two in the second. Madeline Redohl’s shot with seven minutes left to play in the first overtime flew over the top of the goal, and Brittany Shollar’s shot with 4:19 left to play in the second overtime hit the left side of the goal and didn’t go in.

But Clayton’s offense refused to go away in overtime play. A shot from Clayton’s Meg Sutter bounced off the side of the goal with nine seconds left to play in the first overtime.

Clayton had to face Rosati-Kain shorthanded. Allison O’Neal did not play because of a torn ACL, and Amanda Wagner did not play because of a stress fracture. Hoelscher said the situation forced him to put players in new positions.        

Kessler finished the game with eight saves, and Clayton goalkeeper Bree Northern had seven.       

Clayton next plays Ladue on Tuesday.