Congratulations to the Springfield Catholic Fightin’ Irish who upset their large school friends this evening, 3-2 in stoppage time of the second and final OT. The goal was scored by junior Tara Bailes, who put the rebound of senior Sarah Martin’s shot into the net after crashing the six yard box. The game lived up to it’s billing, drawing a very large crowd of enthusiastic fans.
Catholic opened the scoring in the sixth minute when sr. Sarah Martin pushed a ball into the side netting after Tara Bailes kept it alive in the six yard box. The opportunity came off a run by Maddie Renner who’s cross from deep in the corner was driven low and hard into the box. Senior captain Elle Holtman extended the lead to two in the 19th minute after working a couple of short passes in the middle with Bailes. Her shot from the top of the area skipped past the keeper after deflecting off a defender.
The second half found Kickapoo adjusting well, after moving sweeper Chelsea Russell up into the midfield. Both teams missed penalty kicks, Catholic in the 50th minute and Kickapoo in the 52nd, as the ball crashed off the crossbar in both cases. Kickapoo was undaunted however while Catholic began to have second doubts about their ability to stay with the Chiefs. When Chelsea Russell’s direct kick from nearly 30 yards out sailed in just under the crossbar in the 66th minute, the intensity only increased. With junior Katy McLain now lined up as a forward, it was goalkeeper Jessica McCutcheon’s sixty yard kick that fell directly into Katy’s path. Her run at full speed with a defender attached to her side included a wonderful finish with a low hard shot to the right side. Tie game with only seven minutes to go. Two overtime periods would be required to determine a winner and as in past seasons, it was a single goal difference.
This game marks the beginning of my third year of coverage of the girls game here in Springfield (outside of that practice season with the Falcons in 2004, ask a Glendale parent about the videos I produced that year). I find that the rivalry these two teams have developed matches the quality and intensity of Glendale vs Kickapoo. Just look at the reaction of the girls following the match. I’ll be back tomorrow with a couple of short video interviews with Catholics Tara Bailes and Elle Holtman to allow you to see for yourself.
Video - Elle Holtman “We had to win” and
Video - Tara Bailes “I needed to get a goal”
One Comment
Kickapoo soccer and Coach Tom Davidson hold a special place in my heart. My oldest daughter, Carla, was the leading scorer and team offensive MVP on the first Kickapoo varsity girl’s team her senior year in 1995. She scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Glendale in the city championship game that year (the Springfield girls did not play in the district or state tournaments that first year so the city championship was the end of the season). My son, George, played on the varsity team at Kickapoo for three years. He was a senior and started 19 games for the Chiefs in 1996 when the team finished 3rd in the state. George has epilepsy and suffered several seizures during practice and one during the district semifinal game his senior year. Coach Davidson could have easily not allowed him to play because of his disorder, but he gave my son the opportunity because he knew how much soccer meant to him. At the team banquet at the end of his senior year Coach Davidson presented him with a “dedication award” and even became choked up as he described how much George meant to him as a player and a young man. To George’s father it was the other way around. My daughter, Carol Lee, was a two year starter for Kickapoo. She tore her ACL midway through her senior season and had to watch the rest of the season from the bench. The first game ever between the Irish and the Chiefs was her senior night at Kickapoo in 1999. Coach Davidson put her in the starting lineup to stand just inside the touchline until the first substitution so she could have her name announced to the crowd and shake hands with her father, the opposing coach, before the game.
Our win Friday night was such a monumental achievement for the Lady Irish no one wanted to leave the field. Players were hugging students, parents were hugging players, coaches were hugging players and parents…the excitement of the moment was as though we had just won the world cup! It was nearly 45 minutes after the game had ended as the last few of the Irish faithful were leaving the field I looked over toward the shed and saw Tom Davidson waiting patiently to turn out the lights and go home. I went over to thank him for his patience, knowing full well that many opposing coaches would have been upset by the enthusiasm of our celebration and would have run us off their field long before. Tom smiled and said, “I know how much this meant to everyone at Catholic, I just wanted you to have the chance to enjoy the moment.” He quickly added with a grin, “Don’t get the impression I wanted you to win this game, I wanted to win it as much or more than I’ve wanted to win any game we’ve ever played!”
Tom Davidson and the Kickapoo Chiefs do not have to play us each year, as a matter of fact, it is not necessarily in their best interest to do so. This is the classic “everything to lose and nothing to gain” situation for Kickapoo. If they beat us they were suppose to, but if they lose everyone wonders why. Why does Tom play us each year?…..because of his respect for the game and for the players of Springfield Catholic High School. His actions during and after the game on Friday night demonstrated the incredible class I have known to be Tom Davidson for many years.
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