VC falls 2-1 in extra time in SoCal regional quarterfinals

November 23, 2013

By Joe Curley

Extra time was running out.

Just before the Ventura College women's soccer team could begin preparing itself for a penalty shootout, it discovered a worse way to end a season.

Freshman striker Karly Freeman raced through the pressed-forward Pirates' defense for the game-winning goal in the 117th minute as No. 6 Ventura was eliminated, 2-1, by No. 11 Orange Coast in the Southern California regional quarterfinals.

"We got flat at the back," Ventura coach Steve Hoffman said. "I thought we did enough to get to the end of the game. But, at the end of the day we can't give a chance away like that."

It was an especially painful way to lose for Ventura (14-5-2), considering the Pirates had held up for nearly two hours of intense pressure and results earlier in the day had lined up a potential regional semifinal at home.

"With three minutes left?" Hoffman asked. "It's a cruel way to lose. But you've got to play for 120 minutes."

Ventura had entered the playoffs winning seven of its last nine matches.

"Tough one," Hoffman said. "It was going to take a tough loss to beat us, I think, because we were playing pretty well."

A scoreless first half yielded to a high-tempo, physical second 45 minutes.

Orange Coast capitalized on a long spell of pressure around the hour mark to take the lead.

Defender Devan Ellison headed her team into the lead after Ventura failed to clear a long throw.

"They just play really direct," Hoffman said. "I don't know if they played three passes in the game. But that's playoff soccer. Their style of play dominated ours today."

Just when it looked like Ventura's season might go meekly into the cold November night, a pair of freshmen scraped together an equalizer with 17 minutes to spare.

Ashley Borrell headed a cross into the 6-yard box from the right and Abigail Littleton beat a defender and the goalkeeper to the loose ball, stabbing it inside the left post to pull Ventura even at 1-1.

"Ashley headed it over to me," Littleton said. "The girl was going to kick it out. I just wrapped my foot around her and popped it in."

As the drama intensified in the final stages of regulation and into extra time, both teams continued to create a series of chances.

Ventura goalkeeper Hailee Powell was run twice by Orange Coast attackers. The first resulted in a foul that negated a 76thminute goal.

"Very physical," Hoffman said. "A lot of good tackles in that game. Everyone was committed 100 percent."

Defenders sacrificed their bodies to charge down good chances for both teams in the first period of extra time.

And on the edge of a penalty kick shootout, disaster struck for the Pirates.

"We were pressed up kind of high and I think our goalkeeper was kind of high," sophomore AJ Tewes said. "They got a good angle and slid it in.

"It was hard the whole game when they kept playing direct, and our back line was under constant pressure."

Through the tears of the end-of-season postgame meeting, Littleton volunteered a message to her teammates.

"This team means a lot to me," Littleton said. "The sophomores mean a lot to me. The freshmen want to thank the sophomores for all that they did this year."