Khekhe Dodd booted the ball into the box from about 35 yards out, and Madi Mitchell was there to finish. It was the first goal of the game and it made sudden-death winners of the Lady Tigers at Branson Wednesday night, 1-0.
Republic had pelted Branson’s goalkeeper with shot after shot during the second half, especially over the last 20 minutes. But it wasn’t until about a minute into overtime that Mitchell finally found the back of the net.
Mitchell’s goal was made possible by a nifty cross from Dodd, who says she was just following instructions from her teammates.
“I’d like to thank my teammates for telling me what to do, because they can see the field better,” Dodd says. “They told me to cross it, so I did. I trust my team.”
Mitchell says she was trying to get to the right spot because she knew the cross was coming.
“I was trying to be on the backside, so if anything came over there I could get it. And I was just trying to put something on it so it would go toward the goal,” she says. “I was thinking, ‘Go over, go over, right over her hands.'”
The ball popped into the air from Mitchell’s outstretched leg and looped just off the fingertips of the leaping goalkeeper, falling into the net for the game-winner.
“We battled all game. We had a lot of opportunities,” says coach Kevin Hauck. “I thought their keeper was athletic and did a really good job for them.
“We talked about how they were going to make it difficult for us to find shots because they were going to put so many (defenders) behind the ball. We found the shots, but we just couldn’t get anything to fall. I’m really happy for Madi to get the finish and Dodd to be able to get the assist. It’s just nice to have a good win like that,” Hauck says.
The Lady Tigers travel to Carl Junction Thursday, where they’ll meet Hauck’s former team. He came to Republic from Carl Junction during the off-season.
