FENTON – Marin Hoette pledged to make amends.
Early in a Class 2 Missouri girls soccer state semifinal on Friday, the Clayton sophomore goalkeeper mistimed her jump and watched helplessly as a Whitfield free kick fluttered over her descending arms and into the net.
“I was really mad about that, but I took it, and said I wasn’t going to let anymore in,” Hoette recalled.
Hoette saved her best for when it counted most, saving three Whitfield penalty kicks and propelling Clayton to a 3-2 victory (4-3 PKs) over Whitfield at Wide World Technology Soccer Park in Fenton.
Clayton (12-10) advanced to its first Class 2 state championship game and will face St. Pius X-Kansas City (22-5) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park.
Whitfield (15-2), the defending Class 1 state champion, will face Pleasant Hill (16-7) in the third-place game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Soccer Park.
Hoette began the PK session by standing on the goal line and giving the thumbs up to her coaching staff. She then proceeded to make two stellar saves on the first two Whitfield attempts.
She dove full-extension to her left to deny Whitfield junior Ella Rogan, then dove to her right to deflect a powerful shot by Ella’s sister Perry Rogan.
“My coaches and I made a plan of which way we wanted to go,” Hoette said.
After juniors Emma Fischer and Stella Whitney scored on the Greyhounds first two attempts, Clayton had a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the third round of PKs.
But from losing their first three games of the season, to suffering a rash of injuries, to falling behind during playoff games, victories have not come easily for the Greyhounds, and Friday was no exception.
Clayton was unsuccessful on its next three PK attempts, two of which missed the frame. After Whitfield juniors Mia Devrouax and Zoe Zotos converted their chances, the Warriors had an opportunity to win the game.
Whitfield sent goalkeeper Taylor Gardner, who had been outstanding in goal for the Warriors, to take the deciding PK but her attempt went over the crossbar.
“You don’t get many chances like that when you’re down 2-0 in PKs. That just doesn’t happen,” Whitfield coach Jeff Cacciatore said.
Clayton coach Brendan Taylor had a few aces up his sleeve in his sixth and seventh alternate shooters.
Greyhounds’ freshman Vivian Cissna laced a perfect shot in the upper right corner, and after Whitfield freshman Riley Zotos also converted, Clayton sophomore Annabelle Kujawa fired a shot that struck the bottom of the crossbar and torpedoed into the net.
“I was really nervous, and my teammates were yelling, ‘You got this,’” Kujawa said. “I thought, ‘I have to make this. I wasn’t hesitant, and I shot it where I wanted to shoot it.”
The two perfect strikes gave Hoette a chance at redemption. She measured an incoming shot from Whitfield freshman Mackenzie Harris, stood her ground and made the game-clinching save, without the help of a coach-goalkeeper game plan.
“After the first five, we just winged it. I made the save and we won the game,” Hoette said.
The chance to play for a state championship did not appear likely when Clayton was demolished by Whitfield 6-1 on March 30, nor when the Greyhounds lost seven out of their final nine games heading into the postseason.
“We had a lot of reasons to give up, but they never did. It just wasn’t in their nature. They are such a resilient group,” Taylor said.
And that resiliency was evident on Friday.
After the free kick by Whitfield junior Perry Rogan eluded the leaping grasp of Hoette, Ella Rogan cashed in on a rebound to give the Warriors an early 2-0 advantage.
But after that, the high-powered Whitfield offense, led by 40-goal scorer Devrouax, was bottled up by a strong defensive effort led by freshman Claire Graetz.
“I was really focused on not letting (Devrouax) get behind me, slowing her down and then waiting for help to arrive,” Graetz said.
The Clayton comeback started to materialize late in the first half when an attempted slide tackle in the box by Whitfield resulted in a penalty kick for Greyhounds’ junior Rachel Van Rhein.
“I always go left, and I knew the goalie likes to dive to her right, so I switched my PK at practice (Thursday),” Van Rhein said. “I was really nervous, but I treated it like a pass to the corner (of the net) and it worked.”
In the 53rd minute, Van Rhein received a cross from freshman Lucia Melander. Her original shot was deflected and she followed it into the crease, where she used her shoulders, midsection and knees to steer it into the net and tie the game at 2-2.
Clayton earned a flood of offensive chances during the final 20 minutes of the second half and throughout both overtimes. Twice junior Stella Whitney applauded a diving save by Whitfield goalkeeper Taylor Gardner.
Sophomores Analee Miller and Anna McAndrew both squarely rang the crossbar in overtime.
“I felt like we had so many opportunities that I never really got the vibe that (PKs) were going to happen,” Taylor said.
But when PKs happened, a suddenly-friendly crossbar and a determined goalkeeper sent Clayton to its first state title game in program history.
“I’m so proud of our team,” Hoette said. “If I can be honest, I wasn’t expecting us to make it this far. We’ve had some really tough challenges, but we stuck together and pulled through.”
