FENTON –Ryan Cook sensed this one would be different.
The amount of corner opportunities for the Kirkwood field hockey team had reached double-digits, including two in overtime, yet none had resulted in a goal against conference foe Summit.
But as Cook surveyed the field during the 11th Kirkwood corner, she cracked a smile.
“When I inserted it, I had a feeling that it was going in. I thought, ‘This is the one,’” Cook said.
Cook served up the initial pass and junior Emma Appel ensured the Pioneers’ effort would not be fruitless, delivering the game-winning goal in Kirkwood’s 2-1 overtime victory over Summit in a field hockey thriller Monday at Rockwood Summit High School.
Kirkwood (9-3) earned three corners within the first four minutes of overtime. On the final attempt, the ball followed the outline of the circle, from Cook to junior Madeleine Krewet to senior Ella Harms, who launched a shot that deflected skyward and towards Appel.
“I ran in and saw the ball in the air. I didn’t feel any (defender) on me, so I turned and hit it into the goal,” said Appel, who scored her second goal of the season.
Summit (7-5-1) dropped its fifth consecutive game, with three of those losses coming in overtime.
“We’re competing with good teams, it’s just not going our way when the clock hits zero,” Summit coach Andrew Neil said. “Our defense has been really stout, we just have to focus on how to create more offense and how to capitalize in close games and in overtime.”
The Falcons displayed their stout defense, led by the senior trio of Morgan Crew, Kasey VanCardo and Savannah Radcliff. Aided by a stellar 14-save performance by senior goalie Avery DeRoode, Summit blanked Kirkwood for three quarters.
After turning away four, first-quarter corner opportunities by the Pioneers, Summit earned its first corner early in the second quarter and made it count. A mad scramble near the goal crease produced a deflected shot that ricocheted to the top of circle where senior Leah Carron was positioned.
Carron calmly settled the ball and her nerves, then laced a shot that found the back of the cage to give Summit a 1-0 lead 8 minutes 55 seconds before halftime.
Less than 30 seconds later, Kirkwood went on the attack again. A one-timer off the stick of Harms was stopped by the right pad of DeRoode. Senior Allie Bert delivered another one-timer that DeRoode kicked aside.
In the third quarter, DeRoode made a stellar save on a shot from Krewet that had the Kirkwood junior shaking her head. The Pioneers had a huge advantage in possession time and shots attempted, but they trailed on the scoreboard after three quarters.
“We just had to keep our composure and keep focus,” Krewet said.
Cook and Krewet continued to enter the circle relentlessly in the fourth quarter, and if the Summit defense cleared the ball to midfield, Appel was there to send it back to her speedy forwards.
“The fourth quarter and overtime were full throttle, go, go, go,” Kirkwood coach Dana Oppermann said.
That effort was rewarded when a shot by Cook bounced off the right pad of DeRoode and onto the stick of Krewet, who sent it into the cage to tie the game with 9 minutes 48 seconds remaining in regulation.
Kirkwood earned its seventh and eighth corners during a frenetic fourth quarter, but DeRoode and the Summit corner defenders continued their excellent play and helped the game reach overtime.
“We had an absurd amount of corners and we just couldn’t do anything with them,” Oppermann said.
During the 7-on-7 overtime period, the Pioneers trusted the defensive line to freshmen Bella Mosley and Avery Musselman, which allowed Krewet, Cook and Appel to operate in space.
Kirkwood earned a corner 33 seconds into overtime but Krewet’s shot was blocked. The Pioneers’ 10th corner occurred two minutes later. On the 11th, Appel cashed in the game-winner 3 minutes and 40 seconds into overtime.
After her mid-air swat entered the cage, Appel glanced to the umpire for goal confirmation before leaping into the air to celebrate.
“I was like, ‘Am I good?” Appel said.
Kirkwood has been better than good this season in less-than-ideal circumstances. The Pioneers’ 8-1 start was their best since 2011, despite not having a home practice field due to it being turfed.
“It’s hard trying to find time and space to practice,” Appel said. “Sometimes, we don’t know where we’ll be practicing until two hours before.”
Kirkwood is using facilities at other schools for practices this season. Tuesday, they will practice at MICDS while the Rams play at Villa Duchesne. Oppermann believes the strangeness of the situation may be producing an unforeseen benefit.
“It feels like we have no pressure on us. We can just go have fun,” Oppermann said.
Krewet added, “I think it’s brought us closer as a team.”