MADISON — Despite a cold rain, Hall-Dale coach Guy Cousins kept the team’s postgame huddle together a few extra moments Wednesday.
“I just want to soak this in a little,” Cousins told his team.
Given that it is the playoffs, one might think Cousins wanted to steal one more moment with his team before it broke up for the season to reflect upon a tough loss. Instead, the ninth-seeded Bulldogs were basking in a moment of triumph after upsetting top-seeded Madison 2-1 in overtime of the Western C quarterfinals.
Senior Eva Shepherd ensured Hall-Dale at least one more postgame huddle by scoring the game-tying goal with 4 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in regulation, then delivering the game-winner 3:28 into sudden death overtime. The Bulldogs will face No. 5 Maranacook in the semifinals Friday.
“More than anything, I’m just really proud for my team,” Shepherd said. “We did it together.”
“We’ve always been a resilient team,” she added. “When we’re down, we don’t stay down for long.”
Hall-Dale (11-5) briefly thought it was up when Dani Sweet found the back of the net in the game’s fifth minute, but an offsides call cut the celebration short.
Four minutes later, Madison junior Kayla Best beat Hall-Dale goalkeeper Olivia Maynard to the far post for a 1-0 lead.
“When Kayla scored, I actually felt pretty fortunate because they started very well against us,” Madison coach Mike Herrick. “That was really our first good opportunity. It was a good goal, but it wasn’t like we were playing well enough for 10 minutes and all of a sudden had something to show for it. We didn’t really consistently put together a lot (of pressure).”
Madison (12-2-1) did have a couple of chances to extend the lead that Maynard (eight saves) spoiled with fine stops. She showed quick reflexes to intercept a ball that deflected off Madison’s Sydney LeBlanc and made a beeline for the near post. Moments later, she made a diving save on a Bess bid from 20 yards.
Hall-Dale, which lost 3-1 at home to Madison on Sept. 18, turned up its pressure starting around the 10-minute mark of the second half.
“We were going too long in our passes before. We just had to shorten up,” Cousins said. “We had to get better passing angles, come to the ball more and really look for that one- and two-touch. That’s when things really started to open up for us.”
Madison goalie Erin Whalen (five saves) stopped a Clio Barr shot at eye level early in the half. Madison was also able to withstand a cluster of three Hall-Dale corner kicks in the 32nd minute, but couldn’t tilt the field for anything longer than short spurts in the second half.
“They were playing the style of soccer they wanted to play. We weren’t crisp. They were crisp,” said Herrick, who graduates five seniors but has a large, talented freshman class returning next year. “We were adapting to them and their shape. When we won the ball, we didn’t possess it long enough to get into our shape.”
Shepherd and Thea Sweet worked a give-and-go near the left sideline that ended with Shepherd beating two Madison defenders and looping a kick over Whalen from seven yards to tie it.
“She kicked it down the flank to me and we’ve been working give-and-gos all year long so I saw an opening,” Sweet said. “I just knew it would go right through to her, and she finished it.”
“Eva has worked hard all season. She had an injury during the season and was able to get back fit and find her stride during the season,” Cousins added. “Her touch on the ball is good so she doesn’t need to kill the ball. She just really needs to put it to a corner.”
Shepherd found the right corner off a feed from Dani Sweet to give Hall-Dale the win and a new lease on life.
“All the stats from the regular season are behind us,” Shepherd said. “Every game is a one-game season, basically.”
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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