In a game that took nearly a week to complete, it came down to a shootout to decide the Prince George Women's Soccer Association Open Division playoff champions.
Manning Notaries shooter Amber Baker had to score on Tamarack Forestry goalie Melissa Dillman to extend the shootout but Dillman got her hands up just in time to deflect the high shot away to cinch a 3-2 victory on a drizzly Wednesday evening at Michelle Lamarche Field.
Dillman, Tamarack's team manager, was elected to start the final in net and she earned her keep in the shootout, coming up with a pair of huge saves.
Tamarack striker Nicole Cummins connected with the clinching penalty kick to give Tamarack a 4-2 edge in the shootout, a low shot to the opposite side of where Manning goalie Lainy Stevenson thought the ball was going.
"It's a guessing game and I was fortunate enough that the goalie went left and I shot to my left," said Cummins.
Tamarack, formerly known as Kodiak Chrome, started the season with seven returning players following the league's dispersal draft, which allowed teams to protect just nine players.
"We didn't go into the season with a lot of returning players but we picked up the Irving sisters (Rebecca, Lauren, Kaitlin and Jessica) and meshed right away," said Cummins.
Tamarack topped the six-team Open Division regular season standings with a 17-3-1 record, while Manning Notaries (16-4-1) was a close second. Their win Wednesday was their fifth-straight playoff title.
"It wasn't looking good at the beginning of the season, I had seven of my original players but picked up some great players in the draft and everybody showed up for every game and we came together really fast," said Dillman.
"I'm not a goalie, I'm a defender, and we don't have a goalie on the team. It's really hard to get goalies in the league and it's terrifying in a shootout. I'm the team manager and I get the worst jobs.
"I would say this is the most fun we've ever had as a team. Most years we were way more competitive but this year it wasn't like that. I just had the most committed team and I think that's how we ended up winning. Having fun ended up really good for us."
The game went to a shootout after two 15-minute overtime sessions failed to
produce a goal. The teams were tied 2-2 after 90-minutes of regulation time and
15 seconds of overtime the previous Tuesday when the game was postponed due to lightning. Nicole Lodge and Rebecca Irving scored in regulation time for Tamarack. Katie Carter and Sinead Earley were the Manning goalscorers.
Manning had the better chances in overtime and kept Tamarack pinned in the defensive zone for the most of the second 15-minute half. Baker came close to scoring with about four minutes left in the first OT when she nailed the crossbar with a hard blast from 30 metres out.
"A shootout is a tough way to end a season and a gold-medal match," said Stevenson.
