FENTON –Megan Hinnenkamp knew it was time to flip the switch.
The Liberty North senior felt the Eagles’ bending defense was nearing its breaking point as Nerinx Hall unleashed a ferocious charge during the second half of the Missouri Class 4 championship game.
When the title match reached overtime, Hinnenkamp clearly saw the finish line.
“With it being ‘golden goal,’ we knew we only had to push for one. Go first and we’re done,” Hinnenkamp said.
Hinnenkamp’s missile with 23 seconds remaining in the first overtime completed her hat trick, and more notably, completed an undefeated, state championship season for Liberty North as the Eagles defeated Nerinx Hall 4-3 Saturday at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton.
Liberty North (22-0) captured its first state title in program history after placing third last season.
Nerinx Hall (19-3-1) placed second in Class 4 for the fourth consecutive season.
“As a goal, every year you want to play in this game,” Nerinx Hall coach Brian Haddock said. “These are hard to win. Going down in penalty kicks last year, and now in OT to a nationally-ranked team. It’s about perspective. Sure, you want to win it, but I like the consistent longevity of our success the last handful of years.”
After yielding the first goal of the game off a corner kick header from Nerinx Hall senior Ella McAleenan, Liberty North quickly responded.
Hinnenkamp dribbled through the midfield, attacked the Markers’ defenders and launched two nearly-identical goals 32 seconds apart to stake the Eagles to a 2-1 lead.
“I got space in the middle, created different runs, went as far as I could and put the ball in the back of the net,” Hinnenkamp said.
With 10 seconds remaining in the first half, Liberty North was awarded a straight-on, free kick from 30 yards away. Junior Lauren Wood hurried to the ball and beat the buzzer with a perfectly-placed laser to send the Eagles into halftime with a commanding 3-1 lead.
“Outstanding on her part,” Liberty North coach Steve Person said. “She seems to perform better when she has less time. If she has lots of time to set up on that, she’s probably sending it over the net, but when she doesn’t have any time to think about it, zoom, it’s right in the corner.”
The stunning conclusion to the first half could have deflated the Markers.
“It motivated us,” Haddock said.
A corner kick opportunity, one of 14 for the Markers, provided the second assist for junior Lauren Seppi as senior Ava Kutz cashed in on a header that grazed the crossbar in the 49th minute.
Four minutes later, junior Haylee Braun accepted a pass from Seppi, dribbled toward the goal line and snuck a shot through the legs of Liberty North keeper Gabrielle Rose to tie the score.
“We knew we were going to have to weather a storm, and they came out after halftime and were really on us,” Person said.
Nerinx Hall continued to parlay its enthusiasm into more scoring chances. Senior Nina Preusser pinged the crossbar with a header, then clanged the same spot with a 30-yard rocket.
But near the end of regulation time, the warm temperatures, games on back-to-back days and the energy required to mount a two-goal comeback gradually began to slow the Markers’ attack.
And Liberty North gradually rediscovered its own offensive chances.
A 20-yard blast from Hinnenkamp was fought off by Nerinx Hall junior goalkeeper Caroline Ritter, and with seven minutes remaining, the University of Florida commit got loose through the midfield and launched a dangerous laser on the run that Ritter denied.
“They were doing a really good job of pressing us, and we just had to hold on, be organized, and know that at some point, their legs were going to go,” Person said.
Last season, Liberty North arrived at Soccer Park with an undefeated record, but tied 1-1 with St. Dominic late in the second half, the Eagles pressed for the go-ahead goal and yielded the game-winner.
“We learned that the team that wins knockout soccer is the team that is willing to suffer the longest,” Person said.
The Eagles suffered through most of the second half but never panicked, and they approached overtime with new vigor.
“We gave up three (goals on) corners, and that was their main attack on us,” Hinnenkamp said. “We knew we could score just playing how we play.”
Liberty North earned the first corner in overtime, but McAleenan headed away three consecutive entries into the box by the Eagles. Two minutes later, a shot by Hinnenkamp sailed inches over the crossbar.
But Seppi had one more trick stored in her magic left foot for Nerinx Hall. Seemingly pinned against the goal line, Seppi spun and bent a shot that chimed the goal post before it reached the Eagles’ keeper, and sat tantalizingly in the box in front of an open goal.
But no Markers’ foot could claim it.
Moments later, Liberty North senior Ekaterina Theoharidis sent a through ball to Hinnenkamp, who had space to operate.
“I just tried to kick it as hard as I could,” Hinnenkamp said.
Ritter came off the goal line and absorbed the blast with her hands, but the ball popped into the air behind her and the force of the shot knocked her backwards.
Seconds later it landed in the net.
“I was trying to go high, and then she got her hands on it and I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, it went over,’ and then it went in,” Hinnenkamp said. “Then, it was all joy and tears of excitement.”
The game-winning, fourth goal for Liberty North occurred with 23 seconds remaining in overtime after the Eagles’ third goal occurred with one second remaining in the first half.
“What this game teaches, with how that half ended and the way the OT went, is that every second and every inch matters,” Haddock said. “One second you think you have a tap-in for a goal to win, and 30 seconds later, their best player does what they do.”
For Hinnenkamp, the ability to end her high school career with an overtime-winner to secure both a personal hat trick and her program’s first state championship was special.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Hinnenkamp said.
