With 3:28 to go in its season trailing crosstown rival Lakeland 2-1, it looked like all was lost for Yorktown in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class AA Tournament on Oct. 28.
The Huskers’ Sydney Soliz however wasn’t going to let her team’s season end, as she forever became part of Husker lore with a rocket of a shot from 35 yards that bulged the top of the net to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Yorktown took advantage of the opportunity in the extra stanza, when Lea Bryant became a legend in her own right by scoring the game-winner to give the host Huskers an exhilarating 3-2 triumph against the Hornets.
It was the third time the two local squads played one another this season with No. 4 Yorktown also winning at home 2-1 for the League II-G title on Oct. 20 and 2-0 at No. 5 Lakeland on Sept. 17.
“It just felt really good to have that celebration and tie the game up,” Soliz said. “They’ve always been a rival and it’s always a tough game. To finally have Lea’s goal go in and celebrate postgame felt amazing.”
Bryant’s game-winner, assisted by Anna Walling, came with 2:03 to go in the first overtime. Bryant got by the Lakeland defender on the left side from close range and put it in the bottom right corner of the goal.
“It was a great feeling,” Bryant said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, especially playing them a third time this season. We always have really intense matchups with them. They have a few players I know that are really good that I used to play with. It’s always a good fight between us.”
Soliz and Bryant’s late-game heroics didn’t surprise their coach, Ryan Langkafel.
“We returned a big senior class this year, we’ve been relying on them all season long,” Langkafel said. “Those are two seniors we’ve been relying on for the last three years since I’ve been here. They know how to step up in big moments. They just took advantage of their chances when they got them and that’s why we rely on them.”
Lakeland got the jump on the Huskers, scoring twice within the first two minutes of the game. The first of those goals came 30 seconds into the contest, when Gianna Pace scored off an assist from Caroline Daly before Caroline Leonard scored, assisted by Emily Hahn.
“It felt great at the time,” said Lakeland coach Greg Doell of his team’s 2-0 lead. “I told them (his team) before the game that Yorktown was going to come out hard and we needed to match it and we did that. We got a couple of nice goals right at the start.”
Later on in the first half Bryant sliced the Hornets’ lead in half, with a goal on a kick taken from just inside the 25-yard line.
“It felt really good,” Bryant said of the goal. “It was the perfect kick, it just went over her (goalie’s) head. It was good to get some momentum after getting down (2-0) so early.”
Lakeland was able to hold its 2-1 lead before Soliz’s heroics thanks to the stellar play in goal of sophomore goalie Amelia Calisi, who recorded an eye-popping 21 saves.
“She’s just an incredible goalie,” Doell said. “Athletically, she’s great, she’s really coachable and she picks up stuff really quickly and just brings it into the game situations, where she comes out on top more than she gets beat. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the best goalie in the section. I haven’t seen anybody better than her and I’ve got her for two more years, which is awesome.”
Silvana Milizie had 7 saves and Autumn Richards registered 6 saves for the Huskers against Lakeland (8-9-1).
“We both (Lakeland and Yorktown) played a great game,” Soliz said. “It was a tough game. It was a great feeling for us to win it.”
Both teams showed great sportsmanship by meeting with each other on the field after the game.
“That was awesome,” Doell said. “It says a lot for both teams. The girls all know one another. They’ve played together, they’ve played against each other. We are right next to one another and it’s great something like that can happen at the end of the game. It’s impressive for all involved.”
Yorktown (10-6-3) played at the top seed in the tournament and No. 1 ranked Class AA team in the state, Albertus Magnus, falling to the Falcons 4-1 in the semifinals on Oct. 30, with Bryant scoring unassisted and Milizie recording 11 saves.
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