SLIDESHOW: Sammi Jackson (number 22) scores the game's only goal in Solanco's 1-0 victory over host Lower Dauphin Monday night, October 21. Solanco's girls soccer team prevailed because the Mules had nothing to lose and believed they could win. Playing in their first-ever district tournament game, the 16th seeded Golden Mules stunned top-seeded Lower Dauphin 1-0 Monday night, October 21. Since girls soccer moved to the fall in 2012, no number 16 seed had defeated a number one seed in the 3A District III tournament. "It was unbelievable," Solanco coach Ken Yoder said. "These girls just played their hearts out and left it all out there. We knew we had nothing to lose. I was trying to keep it very loose. I didn't talk a lot about how high quality Lower Dauphin was because I didn't want to psyche them out. I honestly just think not knowing was our advantage. We knew they were the one seed. We knew we were the 16, but we didn't talk a lot about specific game planning. We just trusted our back line and our defense and just played a phenomenal game. Matched their physicality. We were just able to contain them and do what we needed to do."
Solanco (13-4-2) will play at ninth-seeded Fleetwood in the quarterfinals Thursday night at 7. The win pushed the Mules' unbeaten streak to 10. Solanco is 8-0-2 in that span. The intrepid Mules were not intimidated by the Falcons or the situation and gave no quarter from the opening whistle. "We played toe-to-toe with them," said Yoder. "We matched just about every aspect of the game. It's unbelievable." Sammi Jackson scored the game's only goal with 15:13 remaining in regulation. Jackson and teammate Kaylin Fowler were battling Lower Dauphin defenders in the goalmouth when Jackson spotted an opportunity and seized it. "The ball was stuck right in between Kaylin's legs and then it dropped," said Jackson. "I saw it and just sprinted and tapped it in. I kind of fell with the ball so it was cool because we both landed in the goal together." She's not precisely sure what happened after that. "My mind kind of went blank," Jackson said. "I was just so happy. I started jumping up and down with my team." Jackson's grit in front of the goal has made her a key cog in the Mules' offense. "That's why she's there," Yoder said. "She knows her role. She's not going to run by anybody but she is going to get to the ball when we need her to. That's just a huge, huge goal for her to be there and not get pushed off the ball." Solanco immediately shifted its strategy in an attempt to protect the advantage. "We made some adjustments right away just like we did at ELCO when we went up 1-0 on them, dropping Alana (Yoder) back in the middle man-marking 14 (Justyce Hollenbach)," Ken Yoder said. "Just plugging up the middle a little bit. No shame in that. Just doing what we needed to do and we came out winners." There were some harrowing moments for the Mules. With 12:42 to go, a Lower Dauphin player got the ball past a charging Solanco goalie Gabi Dolan but Hannah Wood was able to clear it off the line. Wood blocked another Falcons shot with 1:44 remaining. "Hannah is just unbelievably gifted at soccer," Dolan said. "She's just an amazing person and an amazing player." Dolan, center backs Wood and Arianna Sieberlich, and outside backs Maya Dolan and Rilyn Saner once again anchored the stingy Mules defense. "We have really good chemistry back there," said Gabi Dolan. Solanco's senior goalie faced a penalty kick 12 minutes prior to Jackson's goal. Hollenbach was ruled to have been pulled down in the box, but the penalty kick clanged off the right goal post. "There were half a dozen fouls that could've been called there and they get the penalty kick," said Ken Yoder. "Just a huge moment. Gabi did a good job of kind of psyching the penalty kick taker out. Fortunately it hit the post. We got a little bit lucky there. That's what it takes when these types of things happen." Said Dolan: "Oh my gosh. I was so nervous. I guessed the wrong way and I think God wanted us to win with all the shots that hit the post." Lower Dauphin's Payton Kirk headed a shot off the post with 10 minutes left in the first half. Solanco was inches away from taking the lead with 26 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Alana Yoder took a seemingly harmless looking shot from outside the box. The ball bounced off the turf in front of Falcons goalie Anna Duncan, who was unable to catch it cleanly. The ball trickled behind her but the referee ruled she was able to retrieve it before it completely crossed the goal line. "I think it was in," Ken Yoder said. "A lot of the girls thought it was in. With the three referee system you hope they're on top of it. It's frustrating but it all worked out in the end." If the Mules were trepidatious about performing on the big stage they certainly didn't display it. "I was nervous stepping on to the field," freshman midfielder Alanna Brown said. "After kickoff it's just another soccer game." Solanco embraced its role as the underdog. "They were the ones who had pressure on them," Gabi Dolan said. "We were the last seed. Nobody expected us to win so I think you come out with little pressure on you. You have fun with it and that's really what the game's about. We had fun with it and that's why we won." It became evident early on that Lower Dauphin was in for a dogfight. "We were keeping up with them," Jackson said. "It was pretty even the whole time. We definitely had a chance the whole way through. We just came in positive, thinking we were going to win. Positivity helps a lot." Comments are closed.
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