NWD girls' soccer: Alamo's goal lifts Handley

May 23, 2011

By Robert Stocks       

WINCHESTER- Trailing by a goal to James Wood with under five minutes left in regulation, Handley senior Myrina Booker evened the score, but the top-seeded Judges needed a sudden-death heroics from junior Cassie Alamo to advance.

After 80 minutes of regulation and another 10 minutes of overtime, Alamo ripped a shot from about 25 yards that left Colonels backup goalkeeper Vanessa Sousa with virtually no chance. Alamo's golden goal rallied the Judges to a 3-2 sudden-death victory over James Wood in Saturday's Northwestern District semifinal match at the Handley Bowl.

Alamo was a few yards beyond the 18-yard box on the right side when she tracked down a loose ball and blasted it into the back of the net with just 3:10 left in sudden-death overtime.

After trailing James Wood for most of regulation, Alamo said her teammates showed a lot of heart by rallying throughout the game to send it into overtime.

"It was huge," said Alamo, who scored her team-leading 12th goal of the season. "The team didn't want to lose to James Wood and we didn't give up. I just saw the opportunity [to take the shot]." And if someone on the Judges' staff was filming Saturday, Alamo's goal was one of two Handley scores that will likely get replayed more than once.

"It was some great moves, a couple of jukes, and she's just got a rocket," added Handley coach John Lynch of Alamo's game-winner. "She's got a leg-and-a-half. Those are the things that you need in tough times, and I'm proud of all the kids."

The Judges (11-5-1) definitely had a tough time with the No. 4 Colonels (5-7-3), who had lost to Handley in a pair of 1-0 defeats earlier in the year.

But after not scoring against the Judges during the regular season, the Colonels got a goal from Sarah Callaham just three minutes into the match and another score from Marissa Messer to take a 2-1 lead at the half.

James Wood led throughout the second half, but the Colonels took a defensive posture, shifting Callaham back on defense for the entire second half.

Handley outshot James Wood 6-0 in the second half, and Booker and Quarles hooked up on a play very similar to the one that lifted Handley to a 1-0 win at James Wood on April 21.

Booker played the ball to Quarles, who played it right back to Booker who was making a run at the net. Quarles' pass slipped around a James Wood defender, and Booker ripped it high into the top right corner.

"With Myrina's goal, that was just pure guts and fire," said Lynch of Booker's seventh goal of the year. "She went down with that little injury, but she battled through and I just think she wanted it. She leads by example so much."

Both teams showed guts and fire in a very physical first half that saw a pair of yellow cards (one to Messer and one to Quarles). Colonels sweeper Cat Woznak left briefly with blood coming from her mouth, and Wood starting goalkeeper Kaleigh Fincham got knocked out of the game after a collision that resulted in the Judges' first goal.

Quarles had a breakaway down the center of the field, and Fincham came off her line to make a play and they collided. The ball trickled away after the collision, and Handley sophomore Kim Rosario blasted the loose ball into an empty net to tie the game 1-1 in the 28th minute.

Fincham's injury came about 12 minutes after she made a great diving block to deny Booker, who had a quality chance at the net after another great give-and-go with Quarles.

Fincham got to her feet with help, but rode a cart to the Colonels' sideline.

"She got hurt real bad, and I think she's got a concussion," Carden said of Fincham. "What can you say? We took them as far as we could take them except for penalty kicks. I thought we played a great game We made a couple mistakes and it cost us. That's why [the Judges] are champs. They came back and scored when they had to."

Booker said her team often gets down after giving up an early goal, but Handley's standout senior said the team really rallied when it counted most against James Wood.

"No team is going to hand us over the wins, so we knew we had to come out here and battle," Booker said. "We had to keep our heads today and that's what we did."

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