Lucky 13 for Jefferson

By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer

November 4, 2007

Jefferson didn’t just win a state championship game Saturday.

The Cougars won a game for the ages.

Heather Shaffer drilled a penalty kick into the right side of the net to give Jefferson a 2-1 victory over Parkersburg in a record 13-shot shootout at Paul Cline Stadium in Beckley.

“I couldn’t breathe, there was so much pressure,” the junior said. “But I knew it was a good strike.”

Only one other state final had gone to a shootout, Wheeling Park’s 1-0 win over Morgantown in 2001.

“That one went to five penalty kicks,” West Virginia Soccer Association executive director Dave Laraba said.

Harold Bache certainly hadn’t endured 13 PKs.

“I’ve been involved in some shootouts at the high school level, and more so at a club setting, but I’ve never gone that far,” the Jefferson coach said. “It was just too much.”

Bache did not see Shaffer’s shot, or any of the other 12 by his team.

“I let my players tell me if we made it or missed it,” he said. “But I watched all of (Parkersburg’s).”

After finishing regulation and four overtimes tied at 1-1, the teams alternated shots on 12 penalty kicks apiece.

Jefferson (17-5-5) nearly lost when Parkersburg keeper Kelsey Graham got a hand on Kaitlyn Mahoney’s shot in the 10th round. The ball was deflected back into the goal, however, evening the count at 10.

Cougars keeper Sarah Cooper made the play of the game in the 13th round, a diving stop on a kick by Brooke Logston.

The Parkersburg standout had made an earlier shot in the third round. Cooper was ready this time.

“I saw her foot planted to go to my right, so I went that way,” she said.

Logston said, “I was just thinking to shoot for the corner.”

Parkersburg (21-2-2), the defending state champion, had led for much of regulation time. Alex Bush brought the ball into the box in the 28th minute, made a beautiful move on a defender, took two steps and fired off Cooper’s hands for a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars did not get a shot on goal until the 69th minute, when Katie Perry took a pass from her sister Jenny and launched a shot past Graham for the equalizer.

Graham finished regulation play, two 10-minute overtimes and two five-minute sudden victory overtimes with four saves. Cooper had two.

“What a tough game to lose,” Parkersburg coach Mike Lockney said. “A great shot by Alex went in, but on the rest we took too long or were unlucky.

“Most teams would be happy with the season we had. It just hurts right now.”

Jefferson had lost 3-0 to Parkersburg in last year’s tournament. The Cougars had never been in the finals before.

“We’re so elated. We came from nowhere,” Bache said. “A referee told me people were asking where Jefferson was from.

“I think they know now.”

— E-mail:

dstillwell@register-herald.com



Jefferson 2, Parkersburg 1 (13-12)

Scoring: P (Alex Bush, unassisted, 28th minute), J (Katie Perry, Jenny Perry assist, 69th minute), P (Katie Roberts, Emma Levin-Nielsen, Brooke Logston, Taylor Bryant, Chelsey Maiden, Amelia Hammell, Elizabeth Lockney, Tori Boggs, Alison Feathers, Tori Wilson, Katie Roberts, Emma Levin-Nielsen in shootout), J (Kiersten Chaney, Katie Perry, Heather Shaffer, Hilary Adams, Shannon Conway, Caitlin Klug, Sarah Cogswell, Eva Marshall, Tiffany Banks, Kaitlyn Mahoney, Shannon Conway, Katie Perry, Heather Shaffer in shootout). Shots on goal (regulation): P 5 (Maiden 4, Bush 1), J 2 (K. Perry, Cogswell). Keeper saves: P 14 (Kelsey Graham), J 17 (Sarah Cooper).