WILSON — The end result seemed almost certain. Portville had pulled off the upset and was heading to the Section VI Class C Championship game.
But the Elia sisters had some magic left in their feet.
Addison and Colbie still wanted to fight. Wilson wanted another shot at Frewsburg, the team that has ended its season four years in a row.
With two seconds left in the game, a bouncing ball found Colbie Elia’s chest and then the back of the net to force overtime. Then it was Addison’s turn.
The sophomore got the ball 15 yards from the goal and fired it into the top corner for her 38th goal of the season, her most important one yet. The top-seeded Lakewomen avoided No. 4 Portville’s upset bid to win 3-2, advancing to the Section VI Class C championship game against Frewsburg at 4 p.m. Saturday at a site to be determined.
“I closed my eyes, prayed a little bit. But I felt it going into the top corner,” Addison said. “But honestly, I didn’t even see it go in, I just saw everyone start running. I was like, ‘Yes. Thank God.’”
The Lakewomen struck nine seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Addison. The Panthers were able to respond with the next two and appeared to be on their way to trying to win their first Class C title since 2005, but the hosts had other ideas.
The Lakewomen could have had more than three goals but the Panthers defense came ready to play, stopping 23 of the Lakewomen’s 26 shots, something Hart knew his opponents were capable of because of how deep they play their backline.
Despite the Lakewomen dominating possession, the Panthers practiced a bend but not break mentality to send the game into the half tied at one. Portville took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Lauren Lyle with 10:31 left.
But Wilson still didn’t give up.
‘This team just feels like a family. This is the closest group, boys or girls, any group I’ve ever coached,” Wilson head coach Jeff Hart said. “… They have played since they could walk on travel teams together. They played all summer together. They play here. They all play basketball together. They all play softball together. But this really is a family and it’s been amazing to be a part of this group.”
The sidelines for both teams were reeling ahead of the overtime as the players dealt with the emotional roller coaster they had been on, something Hart used to his advantage.
“I got the girls afterwards, they were emotional,” Hart said. “They had tears in their eyes because they had gone from being as low as possible to as high as possible. Then I said, ‘hey, imagine how they feel over there. They were two seconds away.’ I said, ‘We cannot let them just sit back. We have to jump on them as fast as possible.’ So we went in very aggressive into the overtime because I wanted to take advantage of how regular time had ended.”