BATTLE GROUND — The 2015 2A state playoffs and season came to an end Tuesday night for the Hockinson Hawks in a 2-1 overtime loss to Burlington-Edison.
The Tigers advance to the 2A state quarterfinals thanks to an overtime goal from Edie Breckenridge.
The goal ended what would have been a thrilling comeback for the Hawks — one that seemed inevitable only a handful of minutes earlier.
Hockinson struggled for much of the game to maintain possession and muster strong attacks. That was until Natalie Johnson found room to run down the right flank with just more than four minutes left in the game. She sent a long cross across the Burlington-Edison box where it found Alyssa Chapin near the far post with a wide open net to tie the game at 1.
“We got on the end of one there and thought we had the momentum,” head coach Joe Chicks said. “But they had a great finish there.”
The gut-punch loss was felt especially hard by seniors, suiting up for Hockinson for the last time.
“It’s hard to go out in overtime. It’s hard to end four years of being on the team,” senior forward Cameron Bielat said. “It’s time to go do new things, new sports and new teams. But it’s really sad.”
“It’s definitely hard that the season is coming to an end,” said senior Sophia Niehaus. “Every day we worked hard in practice. Everybody gave it their all. It’s just little mistakes, that’s what hurt us.”
Most of the game was played near the Hockinson goal, which was reflected in how much more active Hawks goalkeeper Katrina Abbas was forced to be than did her Burlington-Edison counterpart.
“We played with too much emotion in the first half but we couldn’t really collect it,” Chicks said.
As the match went on, Burlington-Edison’s attack produced more problems in the Hockinson six-yard box.
With 17 minutes left in the first half, Burlington-Edison scored on a corner kick. Alyssa Slotemaker perfectly placed a ball on the forehead of Delaney Watson to put the Tigers in front.
The Hawks got their first chance to equalize towards the tail end of the first half.
Natalie Johnson was sent to the turf while trying to make a play on a free-kick played into the penalty box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Hawks.
The penalty was taken by Rylee Seekins but was saved by Tigers keeper Jenny Gustafson, the only time she was tested in the first 40 minutes.
The tune did not change much in the second half as Burlington-Edison continued to dominate the run of play.
But in the last 20 minutes — sensing the urgency — the Hawks finally produced credible threats in Tigers territory.
