MIDDLETOWN — Battling through two scoreless sudden-death overtime periods tied at 3, Middletown and Clear Lake worked late into Saturday night before the host Mustangs prevailed on penalty kicks to beat the Cardinals and advance to the semifinal round of the North Coast Section Division III girls” soccer playoffs.
Third-seeded Middle-town (16-1-2) faces No. 2 seed St. Vincent (15-2) on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park. The winner of that game meets the winner of the other Wednesday semifinal between No. 1 Roseland Prep (14-3-4) and No. 5 Rincon Valley Christian (16-1-6) in the championship game next Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
St. Vincent ended Middletown”s season a year ago, 2-0, in the semifinals. In fact, the Petaluma team is responsible for handing the Mustangs each of their last three losses — two a year ago and their only setback this season, 3-1, back on Sept. 16 in Petaluma.
Speaking of rivalries, Middletown and Clear Lake were meeting in the playoffs for the third time in the last five years — each time in the quarterfinals — and Middletown now holds a 2-1 lead, including a 1-0 victory in 2008. Clear Lake won 4-2 in 2006.
The ending to Saturday”s contest — there were three of them — went beyond bizarre and both coaches experienced plenty of head-shaking moments before the Mustangs walked off the field — for the third time — with victory in hand.
Clear Lake has lodged a protest with the section but coach Paul Larrea said doesn”t expect anything to happen over the next 24 hours, which is all the time left before Middletown and St. Vincent square off in the semifinals.
Middletown and Clear Lake alternated goals through regulation play. Hannah Diaz opened the scoring for Middleton but Briana Dutcher tied it for Clear Lake at 1. After Kylie Agapoff put the Mustangs in front 2-1 later in the first half, Telia Paskaly scored for the Cardinals to make it 2-2 at halftime.
In the second half, Taylor Sloan”s goal put Middletown back in front 3-2, but the Cardinals came back to tie it on Nadine Bradley”s direct kick with eight minutes left. With the remainder of regulation and two sudden-death overtime periods unable to decide it, the teams went to the first penalty kick phase. Rules call for each team to take five shots and the team making the most wins. If it”s still tied after that, a second penalty phase begins that is sudden death — if one team makes it, the other must, or it”s over.
Neither of the penalty kick phases went as the rules dictate and confusion reigned supreme.
Middletown led 2-0 after the first two rounds of the first penalty kick phase and when Katy August scored to make it 3-0 — Clear Lake still had its third shot coming — the Middletown players rushed the field, thinking the game was over.
“I was thinking, ?What the hell just happened?”” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “Each team is supposed to get five kicks and they (Cardinals) still had a chance to tie it.”
As Middletown”s players swarmed August, the game officials left the field.
“I told them it wasn”t over and they told me, ?No, coach, it”s over,” Larrea said of the officials.
After a delay of 10 minutes, the officials returned to the field and both teams returned to their respective sidelines. Clear Lake scored in round three to make it 3-1 and then made each of its final two kicks while Middletown missed its last two, leaving the score at 3-3 and forcing another penalty round.
According to NCS rules, a second round of penalty kicks is sudden death. Brittany Cash scored for Middletown and Clear Lake missed, and the Mustangs once again thought they had won the game and began celebrating.
“It should have been done right there,” Owens said. “But they (officials) said it wasn”t over.”
Instead, both teams took five kicks — just as in the first penalty kick phase — and Middletown prevailed 4-2 to finally win the game.
“My first thought was, ?Is it really over this time?”” Owens said.
Owens said the confusion in the first penalty kick phase was a result of a meeting between the officials and team captains following the completion of the second overtime period.
“They told the captains it was the first to three (first to three penalty kicks wins),” Owens said. “I think that”s where the confusion came from.”
“The whole thing was misadministered,” Larrea said of both penalty kick phases.
Larrea said he also was upset that during the first penalty kick phase two Middletown players were not in their assigned area as Paskaly missed her shot.
“It”s like shooting free throws,” Larrea said. “If you step on the line, you get another free throw. Telia should have been given another shot ? if she makes it we win 4-3.”
Larrea argued his case with the officials to no avail.
Owens said her players were in the proper place, however, she sympathized with Larrea”s plight.
“In Paul”s defense, and I know he was really upset, I want him to know that if I was in his place, I would be just as upset as he was,” Owens said. “They (officials) didn”t know the (penalty kick) procedure.”
While Middletown prevailed in the end, Owens said it was “anti-climactic” given what transpired, with two warm-up celebrations preceding the actual victory celebration.
“It was crazy,” she said.
Larrea had nothing but praise for the Cardinals (12-11-3), who lost 3-1 earlier in the season to Middletown.
“We played as well as we could have played, well enough to win,” he said.
Owens was in full agreement with her coaching counterpart.
“They were not the team we faced earlier in the year,” she said. “They did a good job of knocking us off our game. I don”t feel like we got into a rhythm.”
Larrea said the efforts of Bradley and Jessica Salmeron, who was filling in for the injured Amely Ballesteros (ankle), were nothing short of outstanding. He also had high praise for his keeper, Darian Ottolini.
Owens said the Mustangs must play a nearly flawless game if they want to get past St. Vincent in the semifinals on Wednesday.
“It”s going to be a tough game,” she said. “Mistakes that we”ve been able to get away with in league, we won”t be able to get away with against them. They are a team that will expose your weaknesses and if you make a mistake, they will take advantage.”
One last irony to the contest is that a new NCS rule governing playoff games determined by penalty kicks will officially list this one as a tie for both teams as far as their overall records are concerned, so the Mustangs, three-time defending North Central League I North champions, won”t even get credit for a win, which would have been their 17th and matched the school-record number of games they won last season.
“That doesn”t make any sense,” Owens said.
Not much did on Saturday.
