The sudden rain that ensued as Andrean’s Stephanie Verkuilen lined up to take a penalty kick seemed all too fitting.
Seconds after the precipitation began Saturday, Verkuilen’s shot trickled wide right, allowing Mishawaka Marian to defeat Andrean 3-1 in a penalty-kick shootout and advance to the Class 1A LaVille Semistate championship.
The teams played to a scoreless tie in regulation, but the Knights (17-5) ended a memorable season for the 59ers (16-4) behind penalty-kick conversions from Megan Rieker, Brooke Strickland and Emily Deputy.
Moments after the game concluded, the rain stopped, but water still flowed down the faces of Andrean’s players.
“We’re all pretty sad, and we’re all crying,” midfielder Tessa Wojkovich said. “But 50 percent of those tears should be joy and 50 percent of those tears should be sadness. No one expected us to make it this far, and we did. We busted our butts to get here.”
The 59ers qualified for semistate for the first time since 2004. Along the way, they defeated teams they had not beaten in 10-15 years.
“It was such a magical season for the girls, it’s always disappointing,” Andrean coach Jeff Clapman said. “Our seniors were a huge part of getting us from where we’ve been to where we are now. It puts some pressure on the younger girls to keep this going.”
Andrean finished the postseason without surrendering a goal in regulation or overtime. Saturday’s shutout was the 59ers’ 14th of the year. Clapman described the backline of Katie Loera, Logan Bosak, Kiera Markham and Nikki Riffle as stellar.
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Senior goalkeeper Meghan Mulroe made six saves in the final game of her Andrean career. Three of the stops came in a one-minute span late in the first half, when she turned away Mishawaka Marian shots in rapid succession.
“The main goal right there was to not let any in,” Mulroe said. “We wanted to keep the shutout and put one in. We were able to keep the shutout until we got to PKs, but we couldn’t finish. They had great PK shots, and we were unlucky with ours.”
Andrean’s lone successful penalty-kick attempt came from Elly Samuels, who went to the left of Mishawka Marian goalkeeper Hannah Harry. She made contact with the ball, but it deflected into the back of the net.
Each team placed six shots on goal during regulation. The two seven-minute overtime sessions elapsed without either team putting together a significant threat.
“It was so competitive,” Clapman said. “They had runs, we had runs. I thought our chances were a little bit better than their chances, but they found a way to stop our chances.”
Every time the ball moved into Andrean’s attacking third, 59er players believed that the goal that would propel them to the semistate final was on the way. It never came.
“Every single time, we thought, ‘This is our chance to keep playing,'” Wojkovich said. “We wanted it so much, but sometimes you can’t finish. That’s life.”
Stetson rolls past VU football: Visiting Stetson opened a 21-0 lead and coasted to a 37-14 Pioneer Football League win over Valparaiso at Brown Field. VU (1-6, 1-4), which was limited to 53 rushing yards, had a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Clarke to Jean Rene and a 1-yard TD run by Jarrett Morgan.
PUC volleyball splits: Purdue Calumet split two matches in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Crossover at Trinity International (Ill.). The Peregrines beat the hosts 25-15, 22-25, 28-26, 25-13 and lost to Roosevelt (Ill.) 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12. Gabrielle Martin (Kankakee Valley) had 15 kills and a career-high 19 digs for PUC (10-20) vs. Trinity International, and contributed 13 kills and 10 digs in the nightcap.
PUC women’s soccer wins: Brianna Leggett had a hat trick to lead Purdue Calumet past visiting Holy Cross 4-0 in CCAC women’s soccer. Tiffani Kotsas also scored for the Peregrines (2-13-1, 1-9-0) and Kelley Sharp had five saves.
Cordovas pace PUC cross country: Alex Cordova took 64th in 27 minutes, 45 seconds to pace Purdue Calumet’s men’s cross country team to an 18th-place finish among 29 teams at the NAIA Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich. Salvador Cordova, Alex’s cousin, was 77th for PUC in 28:15. PUC’s women were 23rd among 29 teams, with Amanda Baker (89th, 21:51) leading the way.
PUC men’s soccer falls: Purdue Calumet was shut out for the first time this men’s soccer season, falling 1-0 to visiting Holy Cross in CCAC play. PUC is 9-6-1, 5-4-1.
Crown Point’s Hekkel picks Indiana Tech: Crown Point midfielder Vanessa Hekkel comitted to Indiana Tech for lacrosse. Hekkel had 16 goals and 38 assists for the Bulldogs last season.
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.