FAYETTEVILLE -- The first 40 minutes belonged to Rogers High, but Fayetteville did just enough to escape with a 7A-West Conference girls' soccer victory on penalty kicks at Harmon Stadium on Thursday.
Rogers owned possession and momentum for most of the first half and took an early lead. But the Lady Bulldogs (5-2-2, 2-0 7A-West) went on an offensive attack coming out of intermission, scoring on a Gabbie Foster goal in the 43rd minute to even the score at 1-1.
After playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation, Fayetteville got a quick stop by keeper Gracie Cape on the Lady Mounties' first penalty kick attempt, setting up a 4-2 PK win.
"Rogers played fantastic. They had high energy, and we were sitting back on our heels in the first half," Fayetteville girls coach Joe Thoma said. "We talked about it at half, and I asked them, 'Who are you guys? Because you're not the team I coach.'
"But we came back more aggressive in the second half, and it was a typical Rogers-Fayetteville game. Going to penalties are awful for both teams, and we were fortunate to get a win tonight."
Rogers (3-1, 1-1) had just a few serious scoring chances but broke through with 19 minutes, 36 seconds left before halftime when Skylurr Patrick got a shot past Cape from the middle of the field. After a productive first half, though, the momentum quickly switched in Fayetteville's favor.
"The first half we were able to possess it more than the second half," Rogers coach Taylor Vaccaro said. "They brought another forward in the second half, and it took us some time to adjust to that and they got a quick goal off of that. That's something we'll have to work on before the next time we play them.
"And I hate that we play so hard and decide the game on PKs. But we needed to take advantage of the chances that we did get against a team like Fayetteville."
Boys
Rogers 1, Fayetteville 1 (Rogers 4-3 PKs)
Keeper Ruben Balberas stopped the final Fayetteville penalty kick attempt to preserve the sudden-death win for Rogers.
The Mounties (4-0, 2-0) got a goal from Jarrod Eisma for a 1-0 lead before Fayetteville (4-4, 0-2) tied the match with a Juan Luevano score in the 52nd minute.
"It was a physical game all the way through," Rogers coach Stephen Peck said. "To go to a shootout is always tough, but Ruben has been through that a number of times."
Sports on 03/20/2015