Carr's header sends Bulldogs to finals

ELIDA - Just when the momentum was whisked away from her team by Wapakoneta, Bekah Carr literally used her head to right the ship.

Carr's header into the back of the net with 9:58 left in the first overtime gave Celina a 2-1 win over Wapakoneta in the Division II girls soccer district semifinals on Tuesday at Elida Middle School.

The Bulldogs (11-3-4) now face Bath on Saturday at noon for a regional berth. Bath dispatched Shawnee 3-0 in Tuesday's nightcap. Bath (17-1-0) beat Celina 1-0 in August.  

"Hats off to Wapak. They played a tremendous game,"Celina coach Calvin Freeman said. "Their girls played hard. It was an exciting game to watch. It's a little intense for coaches, but we were able to walk away with the win."

Carr put Celina in the lead with just under 26 minutes left in the first half on a pass from Alyssa Cisco. The Bulldog defense, which had held Wapak (13-5-0) without a shot on goal in the first 40 minutes of played, worked hard to keep the Redskins from threatening.

With the clock winding down to 15 minutes remaining in the match, action changed quickly near the Celina goal. With Bulldog keeper Callie Vogel was just outsie of the goalie box, Claire Burton lofted a kick towards the goal. It appeared that a Celina defender had been able to kick it out before the ball crossed the goal line, but the lineman signaled that it was a goal. The referee concurred and stopped the clock with 15:42 left in the match as Celina coaches and fans voiced their protests.

"It definitely let the air out of our balloon quickly," Freeman said of the Redskin goal. "But we were able to hold ground. ... The momentum went to (Wapakoneta's) side and they did everything they could to put the pressure on us."

"We were trying to encourage to 'half-chance,' to take a shot. You don't have to have that perfect open shot. Just get something on goal because you never know what will happen," Wapakoneta coach Ross Kantner said. "That was an example. It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it got in."

The Redskins tried to keep up the pressure, using mass substitutions to keep fresh. Celina bowed its back and kept up the defense as Vogel made two saves on Wapakoneta shots before the final horn.

The five-minute break before the first of two possible sudden-victory overtime periods certainly helped the Bulldogs, who got two early chances on the Redskins that Brooke Schlenker was able to save.

"We were able to regain our composure and talk about the things we wanted to do," Freeman said of the break.

With five minutes gone in the extra session, Elyssa Sheriff lofted a perfect pass into the box to Carr, who headed it over the keeper to end the match.  

"We had a nice discussion (during the break), came back and went with a game plan," Freeman said. "Fortunately, it worked for us. Bekah made just an outstanding play to head it over the goal. Just fantastic."

"We knew from the opening kick that Bekah and (Caelyn) were their go-to people," said Kantner. "When (Carr) came flying in there, I think there was that hesitancy where (Schlenker) wondered 'Do I come out (to defend)? Do I stay back?' That split second was just enough for (Carr) to come in."