Davenport out shoots Reardan in nail-biter

REARDAN - Three weeks ago, Davenport overpowered the Screaming Eagles soccer team with a 6-0 win on its home field. On Thursday, Oct. 17, the teams squared off again, this time on Joe Johnson Field. After regulation time had expired, and two overtime periods were played, the teams were tied 2-2. The Gorillas broke the logjam by outscoring Reardan 4-2 in a sudden death shoot-out to give them the 3-2 victory.

Eight minutes into the game, it appeared the Gorillas might be on their way to another route when Davenport junior Glenna Soliday found the back of the Reardan goal on a high arching shot from 25 yards. With 32:15 left in the first half; the Gorillas led 1-0.

This time, unlike in their first matchup, Reardan answered the Davenport goal with one of its own.

With 21:20 left in the half, senior Noelle Raczykowski snuck the ball past Davenport goalie Tessa Cormier to knot the game at 1-1. Three minutes later, senior Mackenzie Bjornberg fired the ball into the net to give Reardan a 2-1 lead that it held going into the second half.

Four minutes into the second half, Charlotte Soliday passed the ball to sister Glenna, who juked her defender and fired the ball into the net from point-blank range to tie the game 2-2.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation play.

After playing two scoreless five-minute overtime periods, the teams went to a sudden death shoot-out in which five players took turns shooting at the opposing goal from 10 yards away. Davenport won the shootout 4-2 on goals from Charlotte Soliday, Glenna Soliday, Samantha Stiles and Tessa Cormier.

Reardan's two goals came from Elise Cox and Luci Smith.

"I think we came out unprepared for Reardan's play," Cormier said. "They are a really good team and pretty physical. Sometimes we struggle to match that energy, but I thought the girls fought really hard. It led to a shoot-out, and we did pretty good. We are a team that grinds and doesn't give up. That's our superpower."

Davenport head coach Monty Soliday thought the hullabaloo of homecoming week affected his team's play.

"This wasn't our best game," Soliday said. "Last night in practice the girls' focus was pretty low. In the first half of the game, we struggled. We were out of position a lot of the time. I like that we grinded and got back into it. I also liked that the girls got a little more physical. Against Reardan, they had to."

"This game was heartbreaking," Reardan head coach Richard Breedlove said. "Because my star scorer (Raczykowski) got a yellow card ten seconds before the end of the match, I could not sub her in, so she was unavailable for the shoot-out. That basically made all the difference. On the bright side, this is the best my girls have played all season. Their effort was lights out. I am proud of them. They wanted that win and deserved that win, but it didn't happen. That's sports."

With the win, Davenport improved to 9-3. The loss dropped Reardan to 5-5.