The Falcons held up against the determined Crusaders from Trinity Prep of Napa for the 4-3 win in overtime and Millennium’s second consecutive section title.
The Falcons (14-2-1, 7-1 Central California Athletic Alliance) and Crusaders (19-2-1, 8-0 Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League) played to a 2-2 tie in regulation. Even after Millennium sophomore midfielder Ivy Torres scored two more goals in overtime for a 4-2 lead, the Falcons still had a tough fight to hold off the Crusaders until end of the second and final 10-minute overtime period.
With two minutes left in the second overtime period, the Crusaders’ Frances Arend pushed up the middle, shot to the left side of the goal and the ball bounced off of the post and into the net to cut the Falcons’ lead to 4-3.
“It’s anybody’s game,” said Millennium coach Mario Ron. “Our girls, I’m so proud of them, they didn’t lose composure. Because when a team grows and is throwing everything they can at you trying to tie the game, these girls overcame all of the adversity, the tiredness and fatigue.”
Senior sweeper Courtney Briggs said that the win proves the Falcons can consistently dominate their league and division.
“The second time we really kept up with it and proved that we can do it,” she said. “In this case the proved it against a team applied constant pressure to the Falcon goal and was quick to get back on defense.
Millennium scored 20 minutes into the game when Salina Elias and Anneliese Bradley attacked through a crowd of Trinity defenders and Elias buried the shot in the left side of the goal.
“We work well as a team, so she happened to pass the ball to me and we connected,” Elias said.
Arend scored for Trinity five minutes later on a shot from the right side of the goal to tie the game 1-1 at the half.
Torres scored for the Falcons two minutes into the second half on an arcing shot from about 40 yards out. Trinity’s Maureen Muth tied it up on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the half to make it 2-2.
Teams both applied offensive pressure for scoring opportunities. Trinity goalie Patricia Williams had 13 saves, and Millennium goalie Hailey Rockwell made nine saves, including a save on a Trinity free kick in the final minute of the second overtime period.
“It’s nerve-wracking when you’re so close,” Elias said. “They’re good competition. This championship was a good one for my senior year.”
Torres added that she tried not to think about the pressure of the final minutes. She scored one goal in the first overtime, and another with about three minutes left in the second overtime.
“I’m used to the pressure, but I was really tired. I think everyone was,” she said. “We weren’t worried about the score. We just wanted to score one more just to prove that we deserved to win.”
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