High School Girls Soccer
Final home game a thriller for Lady Railers soccer team

 

[May 06, 2024] 

Friday night in a heart stopping dramatic fashion the Lady Railers played CS8 conference foe Jacksonville to an incredible finish. The game was one we’ve all been anticipating after we upset Jacksonville last year on their senior night. Our final home game of the 2024 season was the most exciting of the year to date.

Due to injury the team had the smallest number of girls all year to pull from, but it did not matter. Every single one of the Lady Railers embodied this year’s motto “Pride in Battle” that night. Each of the girls stepped up and showed incredible “grit and resilience.”

The game started out with a quick goal from Jacksonville on a corner that at first made all hearts drop when they gained the momentum first. Again it did not matter. The Railer girls adjusted quickly and although there were several more scares in the first half the defense of Piper Graber, Jenna Bowman, Shay Neeley, Faith Doolin, Makinley Knapp and keeper Ella Hartman cleaned them up. For every scare the team had they gave equally back to Jacksonville, culminating in agonizingly close shots that had everyone on the edge of their seats again and again. However, it was not meant to be and the first half left the Railers down one.

Jacksonville came out strong and aggressive in the second half to no avail. Even with several LCHS players getting their first true challenge in new positions our Lady Railers stood up against their opponents and managed to stop nearly every chance of theirs from forming. The ones that did get through Ella Hartman proved her mettle and picked up every ball with no fear even with Jacksonville players charging at her.

The offense in the second half made several great runs on the Jacksonville goalie and to her credit, she did a great job stopping the Ladies. The second half went fast in this back and forth until the last five minutes of the game. Brooklyn Curry, having been switched to center mid, hooked a nice left footed chip pass to Makinley Knapp in the 18. Knapp broke through their defensive line and their keeper came out to challenge. Knapp’s left footed laser shot was absolutely going in no question, Jacksonville's defense simply made sure it did. TIE GAME.

In the CS8 conference ties aren’t allowed, so the game went into a ten minute overtime period, with no score another ten and then penalty kicks. The drama of the first and second half continued into the overtime periods. Both teams had chances that didn’t culminate in anything, so to penalty kicks it went.

The referee walked the ten girls, five from each team to the half line explaining what they would need to do. For those who have never experienced it, in soccer a penalty kick shootout is one of the most uniquely pressured of situations. Each player has one chance for their team to score and each keeper the pressure to try to stop them. Each goal can be seen as the game winner as each player does not know how it will shake out. The walk from the half line all the way to the penalty kick spot is long and is murder to any players mental game and focus. Then on the whistle the pressure piles on.

The Senior Mom Squad and their corresponding senior soccer playing daughters

The Railer five in order: Ella Hartman, MaKinley Knapp, Jenna Bowman, Piper Graber, and Shay Neeley.

Shot one - Hartman had a unique pressure in this shoot out as she was both a shooter and a keeper. She did not disappoint, first in order, she tucked her shot so neatly into the left corner that it left no doubt for Jacksonville how this was going to end. (Jacksonville’s made hers).

Shot two - Knapp with the score 1-1 had to make hers or we would immediately be in trouble. With another shot pocketed to the left Knapp rocketed hers home as well. (Jacksonville’s missed hitting it high and right)

Shot three - Bowman stepped up with Lincoln up 2-1. Her strike was great, unfortunately the keeper guessed which way the shot was going, deflecting it out. (Jacksonville’s shot went the same way as Hartman came up big and deflected their third’s shot keeping the score 2-1).

Shot four - Graber was now up and could up the ante by putting another in for Lincoln and she did. Changing it up she shot high and upper right to put Lincoln up (3-1). (Jacksonville’s shot was nicely tucked to the right out of reach making the score 3-2)

Shot five - Neeley had a twofold option as the last with a score of 3-2. If she missed, the door would be open for Jacksonville to tie it up, sending us into a possible second round of penalty kicks to break the tie. If she made it… Lincoln for the win. Neeley with the trickiest shot of the five leaned a little to the left, tricking the keeper, before tapping an easy pass to the right corner for the win!

Absolutely incredible game ladies, we are all so proud of how tough you played last night from start to finish. Let’s go Lady Railers!!

“This was an amazing and dramatic finish to our home game set this season. It was also our true last game on Handlin field for seniors Jenna Bowman, Ella Hartman, and Arianna Morris. It wouldn’t be right to not give these three a proper send off. These three have been incredible pillars of our defensive line since they started on this team and it shows in that our goals against stats are the lowest in Lady Railer soccer history and our shutouts the highest. These ladies have been 3 of 4 in the line that have made the best defense Lincoln girls soccer has ever seen (the stats don’t lie).

“For the last four years that they’ve played, all three have, barring injury, played nearly every minute of every game. That’s somewhere around 7,500 minutes. As a coach this is the dream, that kind of dedication and mental toughness doesn’t happen often, but when it does it is a game and team changer. These three seniors are starters, captains, and leaders. It’s been a wild ride for the last four years and I’m proud to say that I got to be a part of your journey. We, all of us, wish you the absolute best going forward ladies and remember…Once A Railer, Always A Railer!”

[Coach Beth Rayman]