Ofalt gives Souderton OT win over GMA
It may have been one of the few times Julianna Ofalt gets a chance to score this season, so the senior made it count.
Earning a free position shot with 1:40 left in overtime, the Souderton defender unleashed an overhead shot that found the back of the net and gave the Indians a 9-8 comeback win over visiting Gwynedd Mercy Friday night.
“When I got that shooting space, I’m like this is unbelievable, because I’m a defender,” Ofalt said. “So this is probably going to be one of the only times I’ll shoot in my senior year and it’s one of the most important shots of our season.”
Souderton trailed 8-5 on Hailey Durkin’s goal with 1:09 remaining, but Big Red scored three times in the final 46.2 sec-
onds remaining, with Sarah Goodwin forcing the extra period with her strike off a free position shot with two seconds left.
“We made it out of this week alive and we did it in a bit of a dramatic fashion, but hey they turned it on when they needed to,” Souderton coach Lindsay Walbrandt said. “I am so proud of them for digging deep.”
Goodwin scored off a Riley McGowan assist to get the Indians (6-4, 5-0 Suburban One League National) to within 8-6 at 46.2 while Megan Walbrandt found Katie Halteman to make it a one-goal game at 35.2.
Souderton earned possession off the next draw with Goodwin getting a free position shot with 4.6 remaining. Goodwin got off an overhanded shot just before GMA could close to make it 8-8 at 2.0 seconds.
“In the last minute or two, we knew it’s now or never and we just kind of turned it on,” Ofalt said.
Ofalt then completed the rally in OT as the Indians finished a four game in five day span with its third straight win.
“I knew what I was going to do right away,” Ofalt said. “Whether it worked or not that was just up to fate.”
Durkin had a game-high four goals for the Monarchs. Bridget Beck and Lizzy Ferguson each scored twice for GMA.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do. We did not sub one time. We played with the same players from beginning to end because that’s what we came with,” Gwynedd Mercy coach Deb Lawlor said. “And we didn’t have anybody that could fill any spots on that with the injuries and sicknesses that we have right now.”
Goodwin and Carlie Doughty both scored twice for Souderton, which visits 3:30 p.m. Central Bucks South in a matchup of the last two unbeatens in SOL National play.
“I was at South-(CB) West game last night and they’re going to be a good team,” Lindsay Walbrandt said. “We’re perfectly capable of hanging with them and beating them, but we’ve really got to buckle down in practices leading up that and stick to our game plan.
Gwynedd Mercy has another non-league game 4 p.m. Monday when it hosts Wissahickon.
After the teams split the six goals to stand tied 3-3 with 5:57 left in the first half, GMA scored the next two, as strikes by Ferguson and Durkin had the Monarchs up 5-3 at the break.
Durkin opened scored in the second half to make it 6-3 at 23:39 but Souderton answered with goals from Megan Walbrandt and Doughty to pull within one at 20:17.
The next goal, however, did not come until the 5:30 mark with Ferguson putting GMA up 7-5. Durkin came around the cage make it a three-score advantage at 1:09.