FENTON – Violet Sahaida felt the dread of another possible overtime.
Recalling a district championship marathon that lasted multiple overtimes, Sahaida saw the flight of a corner kick delivery and put her body on the line during the final minutes of a Class 1 semifinal Friday.
“The ball was tight to the goal and I said, ‘I’m throwing my body at it. I do not care what happens. We cannot go into overtime again,” Sahaida said.
Sahaida courageously delivered the first headed-in goal of the season for Duchesne with three minutes remaining to power the Pioneers to a 4-3 semifinal victory over Cape Notre Dame at the 2026 MSHSAA Girls Soccer Championships Friday at Soccer Park.
Duchesne (13-7-1), which advanced to its seventh state title game since 2009, will face Pembroke Hill (10-8-1) for the Class 1 championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at Soccer Park.
Pembroke Hill defeated New Covenant Academy 8-0 in the other Class 1 semifinal.
Another dramatic finish seemed unlikely after junior Sarah Smith and freshman Bentley Woodruff scored eight minutes apart to spring Duchesne to a 3-1 lead at the 20:00 mark of the second half, when the teams embarked on a final hydration break.
“I thought, up 3-1 going into the last water break, the girls were a little overconfident. Some were cheering like the game was over, and we had to dial them back in,” Duchesne coach Patrick Turner said.
Only 71 seconds after hydrating, Cape Notre Dame senior Maya Thebeau scored off a corner kick. Nine minutes later, junior Kate Clippard escaped down the right side and blasted a missile into the top corner to tie the game at 3.
“We told them it’s not going to come easy. If goals happen, how we respond will tell a lot about how the weekend is going to go,” Turner said.
The response from Sahaida was fearless.
“Those (goals) lit a fire underneath us. We did not want to go into overtime again, no PKs, we just wanted to get it over with,” she said.
Freshman Phoebe Grizzle lined up a corner kick and sent a low line drive into the box.
“I was just trying to get it across so that someone could try to get it in,” Grizzle said.
Sahaida threw caution to the wind and her body at the ball. Her head connected with the ball just as Cape Notre Dame goalkeeper Aidyn O’Daniel’s right hand connected with her face.
“That’s Violet in a nutshell. She will battle anybody in the air,” Turner said.
Sahaida’s header deflected off the post and ricocheted into the net with 3:10 remaining in regulation, but Cape Notre Dame still had gas in the tank. Clippard escaped down the right side again, but her attempt at another game-tying goal was blocked by the courageous slide of Duchesne junior Daley Meyer.
“That was a final four game right there,” Turner said.
Cape Notre Dame scored first when Clippard finished a cross from sophomore Brenlee Hennemann. It was the first goal surrendered by Duchesne during the postseason.
Woodruff answered with a sneaky shot that squirted through the grasp of O’Daniel to tie the score at 1.
“I was running along. I didn’t really think I’d have a shot because I saw two defenders and the goalie, but I just shot it anyway and it went in,” Woodruff said.
Smith delivered an upper-90 laser to give Duchesne the lead before Woodruff scored her second goal with patient maneuvering around an aggressive O’Daniel.
“She was coming out hard, so I felt like if I shot it, it would come back at my head, so I took my time,” Woodruff said.
The furious, final 20 minutes could have flustered a team comprised of 16 freshmen and sophomores and only six upperclassmen, but a brutal regular season schedule of Class 3 and 4 opponents showed the Pioneers that they could play with anybody.
And then came the emotional rollercoaster in the district championship against Veritas Christian. In a game where Duchesne controlled possession 85 percent of the time, the Pioneers encountered a hot goalkeeper and over 100 minutes of a scoreless tie before Grizzle ended it less than two minutes before penalty kicks.
“Having the overtime game against Veritas Christian helped us tremendously. That was something we hadn’t seen. We were a minute and a half from penalties, about to go the full distance,” Turner said.
And that harrowing experience inspired Sahaida to put her body in harm’s way in the closing minutes Friday.
“I thought, ‘We cannot go into overtime again. We had such a long, last game,’” she said.
Historically, Duchesne is 6-0 in state title games. Although this group of Pioneers has never been in this situation, they feel ready to keep that streak going.
“This is the first time getting past districts with this team. Nobody has experienced this yet, and it feels surreal. We’re so excited,” Sahaida said.
Turner added, “Now, they’ve got their feet wet and they’re buzzing after a hard-fought, team victory. We feel confident going into (Saturday).”
For a photo gallery of this game, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Girls-Soccer-2023-24/Girls-Soccer-2026/Duchesne-vs-Cape-Notre-Dame-Class-1-semis