Klinkhardt scores winner in double overtime thriller

A clash between a pair of rivals in the Jackson Indians and Notre Dame Bulldogs took double overtime to decide a winner.

A goal by Olivia Klinkhardt served as the winner in Jackson’s 2-1 win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday.

“I kind of thought it would play out pretty tight,” Jackson coach Justin McMullen said. “I thought early on we had a lot of chances and if a couple of those go in I think it’s a different outcome late but, I didn’t expect anything less tonight.”

Jackson�s Maddie Stelling looks to score during the Indians� 2-1 win over the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Wednesday, April 3, in Jackson.Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

From the opening kick, Jackson controlled much of the game, stopping the Bulldogs from generating an attack of their own.

“I thought we did a good job of connecting passes and playing with our feet,” McMulleb said. “We played more of our style in the first half.”

With a couple close calls already in the first half, the Indians finally broke through courtesy of a brilliant cross from Lauren Marchi right to the foot of Maddie Stelling to make it 1-0 Indians in the 34th minute.

“It was a really nice play,” McMullen said. “Maddie did a nice job of making sure she didn’t overplay that ball and it was just one of those plays that you draw up.”

Stelling’s strike was enough to send the two clubs into halftime with Jackson leading 1-0.

Out of the gates in the second half, Jackson had a myriad of chances, all shut down by Notre Dame’s goal keeper Aidyn O’Daniel.

In the 57th minute, Notre Dame capitalized on its first real opportunity offensively.

Rylee Britton found the back of the net with a clutch strike to even the match at 1-1.

“I wanted us to respond a little bit better,” McMullen said. “As a young team it’s something we’re going to continue to learn from.”

Following Britton’s equalizer, the two teams spent time battling it out in the midfield, with neither team able to generate momentum.

The match would eventually go into overtime as neither Notre Dame or Jackson could find the winner in regulation.

“With a youthful team, being in a moment like this is going to help us down the road,” McMullen said. “You’ve got to control emotions and in overtime everything gets a little tense.”

The first overtime solved nothing despite both teams having their fair share of possession in the first 10 minutes.

Just three minutes into the second overtime, Jackson’s Olivia Klinkhardt had a free kick just across midfield that she converted after a good bounce beat O’Daniel and gave Jackson the 2-1 win.

“Going into the game we talked about trying to play some balls deep into the box,” McMullen said. “We wanted to try and create some chances and create some havoc around the box.”

Notre Dame (3-2) returns to the pitch at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, when the Bulldogs host St. Vincent at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Jackson (4-2) hits the road at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, when the Indians battle Oakville in a Class 4 District 1 clash.