Pirates win title in 2 OTs

Emotions ran high Tuesday night with both Perryville high schools battling to win their first girls soccer district title in the championship game of the Class 1 District 1 tournament at the Perryville Soccer Complex.

It was only fitting the rivalry game needed overtime to settle the winner, with Perryville topping St. Vincent 2-1 in the opening minute of the second overtime.

Tears of joy ran down the face of coach Stacie Sargent as she rushed the field with her players following the game-winning goal from sophomore Chelsey Marr.

"I told the girls after the first overtime this was fitting. We won our first game of the season in double overtime," Sargent said.

Perryville will play the winner of District 2 in a sectional game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Notre Dame.

The district final followed closely the script of the previous meetings between the two teams. Perryville did not score a goal in the opening half in any of the three meetings, winning each of the three by a goal.

Perryville (15-8-1) trailed 1-0 after the first 10 minutes Tuesday only to tie the score in the opening minutes of the second half.

"We've played them three times, and we've lost by one goal each time, and it's been a tale of two halves each time," St. Vincent coach Dustin Wengert said.

After clawing out a 1-0 upset win over top-seeded Notre Dame on Monday, the fourth-seeded Squaws had to like their position following Lacey Siegmund's goal 7 minutes into the game.

Although the second-seeded Pirates controlled play the first 5 minutes of the half, St. Vincent capitalized on its first good opportunity. Brooke Brown had the assist on the corner kick, which Siegmund deflected in when Perryville failed to clear the ball.

"You want to score first in a game like this," Wengert said. "I feel if we score first, we're 100 percent better. Our confidence is up. But at the same time it gave them too much time to score an equalizer, and they did in the second half."

Despite the Pirates' youth -- Perryville has 16 freshmen and sophomores among its 23-player roster -- they did not let several missed opportunities in the opening half frustrate them.

Less than 5 minutes into the second half, sophomore Alyssa Bauwens scored a header off a perfect cross from Kendra Schilli. The goal was the second of the season for Bauwens, who scored the game-winner Monday.

Moments later the Pirates nearly went on top. Schilli had an open net inside the box but pushed a shot wide.

St. Vincent goalie Megan Wengert had to be alert in the second half with the ball in her end for the majority of the final 40 minutes of regulation. Wengert made a leaping save early in the half and made another key save with about 10 minutes remaining. Wengert finished with 18 saves.

After failing to capitalize on two corners in the first overtime, Marr made sure not to waste her chance in the opening minutes of the second overtime, as she tapped a slow roller into the back of the net. Schilli crossed the ball, which went by one Perryville player before finding Marr's foot. The goal was the 12th of the season for Marr.

"We had shot over the net and around the net, and I said 'You know what we need is a roller,'" Sargent said.

St. Vincent forced Perryville goalie Chastity Marr to make 12 saves, including several good chances in the opening half. The Squaws, who finished their season 10-11-3, will graduate five seniors.

"We had a great crowd and they stayed into it," Wengert said. "It was an unbelievable atmosphere -- probably the best atmosphere all year. It just sucks one team has to win and one team has to lose."