Girls Soccer –Western Conference Championships

By Jeremy Rasmussen

Published in the St. Petersburg Times, Jan. 28, 1999
(This is the unedited version)

RIVERVIEW – Gaither goalie Michelle Kmiotek went from goat to hero in one play. After allowing the tying goal against Gaither on a mishandled ball, the freshman keeper stepped up to stop a penalty kick by Durant’s leading scorer Kellie Evans and preserve a 3-2 shootout victory for the Cowboys.

The win puts Gaither (16-2-3) in the Western Conference Championship game tonight at 5:30 against Bloomingdale. The Bulls (13-5-3) were 2-0 winners over Riverview in the other semifinal.

Gaither and Bloomingdale tied 1-1 earlier this season, and each had a 4-0-1 record in divisional play. However, Gaither principal Ken Adum successfully lobbied to have the Cowboys to be the American Division entrant to the WCC by virtue of their superior regular season record, rather than the customary coin flip.

That meant Bloomingdale had to play a wildcard match against King on Tuesday, which the Bulls won 4-1.

""It’s going to be a rematch, and it’s going to be heightened by all the controversy surrounding the way things happened,’’ Gaither coach Dianne Sumner said. ""I just hope we don’t let down after tonight.’’

The Cowboys scored just 96 seconds into the match as Katie Chakour controlled a long throw-in from Tally Payne and booted it in. Durant stormed back in the sixth minute when Melissa Diamond nailed a one-touch shot off a cross from Pam Mattheus.

The Cowboys went up again in the 22nd minute when Erin Sharpe split a pair of defenders with a pinpoint through ball to Michaelene Cadiz for the finish.

In the second half, the Cougars outshot Gaither 8-3 but couldn’t convert until Mattheus’ long cross from the wing was bobbled into the goal by Kmiotek. After the play, Sumner said she considered pulling the freshman
keeper.

""We debated it, but I decided to leave it up to her; and she decided to stay in,’’ Sumner said. ""She’s just a freshman. She needed that confidence booster.''

In the shootout, Gaither converted all five of its penalty kicks, and Durant made its first four before Kmiotek’s save.

In the other semifinal, first-year Riverview (9-3-1) packed in its defense against the experienced Bulls, and the plan almost paid off. Bloomingdale appeared frustrated and unable to mount much of an attack throughout the game.

The Bulls got an early goal when Alison Gilman intercepted an errant pass from a Riverview defender to goalie Marcelle Medford and knocked it in. Riverview almost tied it when Daniella Marin’s shot hit off the crossbar in the second half, but Bloomingdale’s Kelly Morgan closed the door in the 68th minute on a pass from Megan Snaider.

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