Janci Courtaney’s mind flashed toward the possibility of overtime. She thought about the penalty kicks Valparaiso had practiced during the week.
But she helped prevent any of those scenarios from occurring in Thursday night’s Class 2A Portage Sectional opener against Chesterton.
More Top Picks What Color Overlay Works Best For Visual Stress
Courtaney scored the game’s first goal with 8 minutes left on an assist from fellow sophomore Olivia Shaw as the Vikings edged the Trojans 2-1.
“I just really wanted to win for the seniors and our whole team,” Courtaney said. “I saw an opportunity. Olivia crossed a great ball and I put it in. It was awesome.”
Valparaiso (9-2-5), ranked No. 16 in Class 2A, will play Saturday afternoon to try and reclaim the sectional title that Chesterton (11-3-4) won last season, ending the Vikings’ streak of five straight. Hobart will be the Vikings’ opponent after the Brickies topped Portage 2-0 in Thursday’s second game for their first sectional win since 2009.
Valparaiso snapped a scoreless tie against Chesterton on a goal set up by Shaw. She dribbled through several defenders before sending a cross from the right side to the far post, with Courtaney volleying it home.
Valparaiso coach Rob Cespedes described the “beautiful” sequence.
“You couldn’t ask for a better textbook play,” he said. “It’s a great thing for the younger ones to have high-intensity games like this. It was great to have a classic against your down-the-road rival and for them to be able to come up like that.”
It appeared the Vikings were on their way to matching their 1-0 win against the Trojans from the regular season.
But Valparaiso capitalized on a Chesterton own goal with less than five minutes left when Courtaney’s cross deflected off a defender.
Still, the Trojans got back a goal with 45 seconds left as Brinley Fowler scored on an assist from Courtney Krol.
Chesterton coach Jason Conway expressed pride in his team’s effort.
“We learned something bigger about life than soccer,” he said. “They were down, felt like they got punched in the mouth. At that point, you decide what you want to do — you either give up and crawl into the fetal position or you fight.
“What I saw from those girls, even when they were down, they kept fighting. That is a lesson that transcends soccer.”
In Thursday’s second game, the Brickies (6-8-1) reversed a 2-0 loss against the Indians (8-9) from Saturday. Vivika Garcia scored on a shot from 35 yards with 32 minutes left, and Grace Nestich added a goal on corner kick from Garcia with 11 minutes left.
Hobart coach Sarah Gourley was beaming.
“The girls were really pumped and really excited about it,” she said. “It’s going to be a great thing for the girls and the team and the community and the soccer program as a whole.
“The girls came out with fire, especially because we lost to them. They wanted to prove they were the superior team.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff