Summit survives Liberty in overtime

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Summit had trailed only twice all season. On Tuesday, the Storm trailed twice before the middle of the second half.

But host Summit kept its cool, came from behind twice, then scored a pair of goals in overtime for a 4-2 win over Liberty in Round 2 of the Class 6A boys soccer state playoffs. The win advances the Storm to a home quarterfinal match against South Eugene on Saturday.

Jace Marshall headed in what proved to be the winning goal on a cross from Jack Fecteau four minutes into the first of two 10-minute overtimes.

“It was a battle, man,” said Ron Kidder, coach of the No. 2-seeded Storm. “It was kind of uncharted waters for us.”

The Falcons from Hillsboro, seeded No. 18, scored in the ninth minute — just the fifth goal against the Storm all season and the first allowed at home.

Kamdon Simmons got the Storm even in the 26th minute with an assist from Marshall, and it was 1-1 at halftime. But Liberty’s goal 15 minutes into the second half put Summit in a hole again.

“We got to see what kind of composure we have,” said Kidder. “Teams get a goal down, they often will get panicky. And in the playoffs it’s a different intensity — if you lose, you go home. Our boys were able to stay composed.”

Simmons’ second goal, a header off a cross from Simon Kidder, tied it 2-2 in the 63rd minute. And that was how the score stood after 80 minutes of regulation time.

When Marshall scored in the 84th minute, it was Summit’s first lead of the game. Immediately after the tiebreaking goal, Liberty’s keeper was ejected for, as Ron Kidder described it, chasing a Summit player.

Two minutes later, against a team that was down a player and missing its starting goalie, the Storm added an insurance goal when Owen Adams looped a header over the Falcons’ backup keeper. From there, it was a matter of running out the clock through the second overtime, and Summit had its 10th straight victory.

The Mountain Valley Conference champion Storm (15-1) now face a South Eugene team that is riding a 14-game winning streak. The Axe (14-1-1), champions of the Southwest Conference, beat Lincoln 3-0 in another second-round game Tuesday.

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