By Katie McDonald

Well after the Freedom Patriots defeated Bethlehem Catholic, 2-1, in girls soccer, Freedom junior Tess Zalutsky was still in shock over her game-winning goal less than three minutes into overtime last Wednesday at Freedom.

“Hannah (Heidemann) won the ball from their keeper, and I saw the ball, and I figured the keeper wasn’t in the net, so I went up and took the shot, and I was really hoping it would go in. I was holding my breath,” Zalutsky said. “That’s all I really know because I’m still in shock and relief that it went in and that it was so quick into the overtime.”

Just as quick was Julie Wright’s goal for the Hawks on an assist by Summer Hill that tied the game just a couple of minutes into the second half.

“We made some adjustments at halftime to create the space that allowed for more balls to be played through,” said Becahi head coach Brad Kratzer.

But a red card put the Hawks at a clear disadvantage for the rest of the match.

“They’re just a very aggressive team,” said Zalutsky. “I just know we had to be aggressive back with all the cards in that game.”

Freedom junior Grace Joseph scored the first goal of the came on a cross to the middle in the first half of play.

“I think we connected more passes than they did, but they were pretty tough,” said Joseph. “They pressured us. They did pretty well, I’d say. We had to win, and it was Beca. We had to beat them.”

Neither team had the advantage of depth, but both made the best out of their circumstances on Wednesday.

“We’re not very deep, and we have a lot of girls who are injured, so it was a matter of the 11 that were in there giving their best effort as long as they could. Fortunately, we got a break and had a good shot for a goal,” said Freedom head coach Bob Eaton. “I think we’ll need to work on our first touches, and, to an extent, our set plays and our opponents’ set plays.”

While the Patriots tallied a huge win over Wilson days earlier, Freedom was Becahi’s first opponent of the season.

“It made it difficult to know exactly where we’re going to be in competitive situations. We adjusted well at half yesterday and we need to just keep pushing possession-based attack,” said Coach Kratzer. “Because we are a smaller school, we do not have the subs necessary, so to combat that we concentrated on fitness levels. That truly showed yesterday playing in the warm conditions through overtime and being down a player. I am also very happy with our defensive shape. Once we get through the difficult opening period of games, we should settle and put together an incredible season.”