Michelle Hagen’s bouncing free kick deflected off Lexy Smith’s backside for the decisive goal with less than 5 minutes remaining, sending Belton past Klein Oak 2-1 in a Class 5A area-round girls soccer playoff match Friday night at Eagle Field.
“I thought one of their players was going to get it so I was moving into position in case there was a rebound, when it bounced off of me,” Smith said. “I didn’t even know it went in until Chelsea (Jones) started yelling.”
The fortuitous bounce eliminated the Lady Panthers (13-6-1) and sent the Lady Tigers (25-2) into the Region II quarterfinals for the third straight year.
Belton will face The Woodlands - a 2-1 overtime winner against Round Rock McNeil - Monday or Tuesday at a time and site yet to be determined.
“Michelle was having trouble getting her free kicks in the air during practice, but I figured she was going to boom that one,” Belton coach Barry Elkins said. “When it took off low, I thought (Oak) caught a break, then it hit off Lexy’s butt.”
The Lady Tigers struck first on another free kick with 8:26 left in the first half, when Kali Hellinghausen’s arching pass from 30 yards out was headed in by Jones - her 33rd goal of the season.
The Lady Panthers had just six shots, five of which came in the first half. Most of those occurred before Elkins gave sophomore defender Kallie Lahey the job of marking speedy Oak forward Alison Germany.
Germany’s quickness resulted in three Oak scoring chances in the game’s first 15 minutes, but she was nullified the rest of the way.
“I just tried to keep her off the sideline,” Lahey said. “She’s left-footed so I tried to push her to the right where there were more defenders.”
Added Elkins: “Kallie did great. She took their best player out of the game, and that’s not something that shows up in the stats.”
The Lady Panthers tied it only 5 minutes after intermission on their only shot of the second half. After Belton goalkeeper Kelsi Darr dropped a long pass sent in by Oak midfielder Alyson Espino, Tori Lunsford kicked it in to knot it at 1.
“That was just an unfortunate play, because I thought Kelsi played great all night,” Elkins said. “She was aggressive and charged when she needed to. That was just an unfortunate play.”
With Belton’s relentless attack starting to wear on Oak, Germany received a yellow card for tripping Jones about 26 yards out, setting up the free kick that resulted in the winning goal with 4:28 remaining.
It was the second time in as many playoff games that the Lady Tigers pulled out a victory in the final minutes. They got past Round Rock Westwood 2-1 in the bi-district round on Smith’s goal with 1:41 left.
“These kind of games can start to get to you,” Elkins said. “Even I have to catch my breath when it’s over."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
