Playing against No. 1 Franklin Academy, an hour-long weather delay, a smaller field and darkness, No. 4 Seaforth just needed one goal for a spot in the 2A East regional final.
The Hawks took down the top seeded Patriots, 1-0, in a bizarre 2A East regional semifinal Thursday that wasn’t normal from the very beginning.
“You always have that one moment in a championship season, that one game you look back on — that was the win that defined it,” Seaforth head coach Giovanni Viana said. “Against the weather adversity, the field adversity, the refereeing adversity, the girls overcame it, and that’s mental toughness. Battle readiness.”
To start, the pitch was shorter and narrower than the Hawks were used to.
In the beginning of the game, both teams struggled to establish a solid footing offensively as the smaller field made it difficult to track down passes and find space for quality looks at the goal, despite players being able to shoot from almost anywhere on the pitch. Possessions constantly changed, and the ball went out of bounds frequently, keeping both high-scoring teams from filling up the scoreboard early.
Then, a worry from pregame became an issue as the incoming storm came through with lightning and caused an hour delay just five minutes into the game.
No big deal, right? It’s just rain.
Well, Franklin Academy’s fields also didn’t have lights.
Coming out of the delay, the teams agreed to play until it became too dark outside and go by the referee’s call on when to end the game. Even with time to reflect on the field conditions, nothing changed about the game’s style of play. Both teams continued to shoot whenever they could, but with less ground for defenders to cover and solid goalkeeping from Seaforth’s Katie Leonard and Franklin Academy’s Griffin Coward, the score remained 0-0 going into a shortened halftime.
In the second half, both teams began to hold possessions for a little longer, and Seaforth began to find opportunities to play like it knows best — with speed.
The Hawks began to outrun a physical, but fatigued, Franklin Academy defense, leading to breakthroughs for better shots on the goal.
Coward continued to be a wall, though, until the 27th minute in which junior Caitlin Erman passed the ball to sophomore Sofia Viana who passed it right back to a cutting Erman for Seaforth’s first and only goal of the night.
As the sun steadily set, Leonard continued to stay strong on the other end, coming away with pivotal saves against a desperate Franklin Academy team shooting from almost anywhere to tie the game in the dark. With just 11 minutes, 32 seconds left to play, Leonard saved a crucial free kick, keeping the momentum in the Hawks’ direction in the final minutes.
“(Leonard) stepped up when we needed her,” Viana said.
Said Viana, “I was worried Katie wasn’t going to be able to see the ball.”
As the taste of its first regional final appearance inched closer, Seaforth’s sideline began to get frustrated with the continuation of the game without light. In the final 10 minutes, Seaforth athletic director Jason Amy loudly expressed his displeasure with the referee’s decision to continue play, and he even earned the team a yellow card after turning on his phone’s flashlight.
Just minutes later, though, the weather, the field and the lights didn’t matter anymore. The referee called the game final with 5:44 remaining on the clock.
With the win, Seaforth earned a regional final matchup with No. 10 Clinton Tuesday. The Hawks beat Clinton back on May 2, 5-0.
