Mustangs lose in shootout

M'town pushes RUP to limit before bowing out 4-3

SANTA ROSA >> Two regulation periods and two overtimes later, the Roseland University Prep Knights defeated Middletown 3-0 in a penalty-kick shootout for a 4-3 victory in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division 1 girls soccer playoffs Saturday night at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa.

It was the third meeting this season between RUP, the undefeated North Central League I champion, and Middletown, the NCL I runnerup. RUP won the first league meeting while the second ended in a tie, the only blemish on RUP’s 15-0-1 record this season.

The Knights, the No. 2 seed in the Division 1 field, host No. 3 Arcata in the semifinals Wednesday. Middletown, the No. 7 seed and defending Division 1 champion, finishes the year at 12-3-2.

“It was a great game, the girls left everything out there on the field,” Middletown’s Ashley Hart said of marathon loss that ends her first season as the Mustangs’ head coach. “It made me very proud.”

Middletown took a 2-0 lead on goals by Paige Astley and Zamora Rogers in the first half of regulation play. RUP answered with three straight goals, two in the first half and another in the second half, to go up 3-2. Ellary Isherwood’s goal with six minutes left to play in regulation tied it up.

Neither team scored in two separate 10-minute overtime periods, leading to a shootout. RUP made its first three shots while Middletown came up empty. The Mustangs went into the shootout minus senior Georgia Guerrero, who dislocated her knee in the second overtime period.

“We were out there for almost three hours,” Hart said. “It was just all-around great play by all of them,” she added of her players.

Looking back on her first season, Hart said, “It was a roller coaster of emotions, but everything that happened made us stronger as a team.”

Hart said she would “most likely” return for a second season.

“We’re losing some good seniors,” she said.