After two overtimes, Stephanie White stuck the deciding penalty kick in the upper-right corner of the net, ending the ordeal at George Mauser Field Saturday afternoon.
Tuesday’s match was to be played at St. David’s against a team the Falcons tied 3-3 during the regular season. The state semis and finals will be held at Charlotte Latin on Friday and Saturday.
Kyle Kegl, coach of the 9-4-3 Falcons, thought Saturday’s contest went on longer than it should have. He didn’t feel his team played nearly as well as it did in a 1-0 loss to Calvary Baptist in a semifinal match of the Triad Athletic Conference Tournament earlier in the week.
“It was heart-wrenching more than exciting,” he said. “We played down to our competition. I don’t know if it was nervousness or playing in the heat for the first time.”
The Falcons were forced to come from behind twice.
Cannon (13-9) opened the scoring with a goal off of a corner kick about midway through the first half.
“Corner kicks have been our Achilles Heel all year long,” Kegl said.
About 10 minutes later the Falcons tied it. Kelsey Hukee lofted a free kick over the Cannon defense right on to the foot of Kate King, who buried it.
It stayed that way until about 10 minutes into the second half when the visitors took a 2-1 lead off a scramble in front of the Falcon net.
The home team drew even in the 65th minute when Kat Davis headed home a corner kick by King at the far post.
After two scoreless overtime periods, Falcon goalkeeper Nicole Poteat stopped the first two penalty kicks by Cannon. The Falcons were one for two with Margaret Cross connecting.
Hukee and Jessica Gregory also found net for the Falcons before White’s kick broke a 3-3 tie.
“It was a great finishing penalty kick,” Kegl said. “We played with a lot of determination if not style. Nicole had 12 saves and played one of her best games for us. It was exciting when it was over.”
The winner of Tuesday’s match plays the winner of the contest between Calvary Baptist (11-2-3) and Fayetteville Academy (11-5-5) in one of Friday’s semifinals.
