Sacred Heartbreak: Notre Dame Loses On PKs In Title Game

  GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- It was like a forcefield was activated across both nets.

 In 120 minutes of soccer, neither Notre Dame nor Louisville Sacred Heart could score a goal in the state title game on Saturday.

 So the game went to penalty kicks. And none of the first seven of those shots went in.

 Finally, Valkyries senior midfielder/forward Nikki Hafele scored on a shot into the top right corner of the net at the end of the fourth round, and junior goalkeeper Maddie Peabody stopped the ensuing shot by Pandas senior defender Ally Westling to give Sacred Heart the 1-0 win.

 “It just wasn’t our day in the back of the net,” Notre Dame coach Sara Raaker said.
The Valkyries have now won three straight state titles, and four overall. The Pandas won their only state title in 2004 under Raaker, but they drop to 1-4 in state championship games.

 Notre Dame had beaten Sacred Heart, 2-1 at home on Sept. 26.

 Pandas senior striker/midfielder Courtney Clark shot wide right to open the first round, and senior midfielder/forward Jenna Price’s kick hit the inside of the crossbar.

 Peabody made a diving save to her left to deny senior midfielder Torrie Lange. Junior forward Lucy Chauvin mishit her shot, which missed right.

 In the third round, Peabody again made a diving stop to her left, this time on sophomore midfielder Chandler Clark’s kick. Valkyries junior defender Kelsey Malyszek followed that up by missing the net left.

 Senior striker/defender Megan Berberich took Notre Dame’s fourth kick, but she pounded it off the crossbar.

 Then Hafele finally found the net, and the Pandas came away empty on their fifth penalty kick. Peabody made saves on three of them.

 “We’ve been practicing PKs a lot,” Lange said. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
The teams converted 1 of 9 penalty kicks, and the Pandas finished 0-for-5.

 “It’s rare that all five of our shooters missed the PKs,” Raaker said. “They’re clearly our best five taking them.”

 Sacred Heart controlled the first half, but Notre Dame had the best two scoring chances.

 Junior striker Heather Shelton took advantage of a turnover and fired a shot that Peabody had to make an outstanding sliding save on, and the rebound came to sophomore midfielder Ellyn Abdelghany, whose shot covered by Peabody just before the halfway point of the first half.

 Minutes later, Lange’s deep crossing pass to junior striker/midfielder Alexa Clark resulted in an outstanding shot and a better diving save by Peabody.

 “She made two saves in the first half that saved the game for us,” Sacred Heart coach Chris Moore said. “And then to come up like she did (in penalty kicks) – I don’t think I’ve seen a goalkeeper do something like that. It was just absolutely remarkable.”

 Neither team had many good chances to take the lead in the second half, although Sacred Heart took control as time ran down in regulation.

 Notre Dame game began to gain momentum and Sacred Heart appeared to be tiring as overtime wore on, but the 30 minutes of extra sessions expired without either team scoring.

 HALFTIME: 0-0. SHUTOUTS: SH—Peabody (4 saves). ND—Voskuhl (5 saves). RECORDS: Sacred Heart 18-1-2, Notre Dame 22-4-1.