By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
FAUCETT - Jordan Thornton wasn't sure how she felt when her number was called to take a penalty kick in overtime against St. Joseph Central.
The Dragons and Indians were knotted at 5-5 after two overtime periods and after each team had five PK attempts already.
"In the season earlier, I had to take a PK in the game," Thornton said, "and I just rushed it and it was not good at all. But, my teammates had my back. They came up to me and said, 'You got it, you can do it.' I just went up there and shot it and it went in."
Indeed, Thornton's PK snuck through, and Central's tying attempt sailed over the crossbar, and the Dragons (6-2) held on to beat the Indians 6-5 in thrilling fashion on Thursday afternoon at Mid-Buchanan High School.
It marks a signature, early-season win for Mid-Buchanan - a Class 1 team that took down a strong Class 4 squad from just up the road.
"It's really great for the girls," Mid-Buchanan coach Danielle Burkart-Beers said. "We're really working on building confidence as a team and just being there for each other. That whole game, every second, you could tell they played for each other."
Winds were howling out of the south throughout the match Thursday, and Mid-Buchanan got that wind at their back to start. It was a defensive and physical duel throughout, but the Dragons were able to throw the first punch.
Thornton broke away along the sideline and snuck the ball across Central's 18-yard-box and into the net, putting Mid-Buchanan ahead 1-0 with 25:28 left in the first half.
"That (goal) really set the tone and the mood," Burkart-Beers remarked. "From there on out, they were in it."
The Dragons led 1-0 at the break, but Central (6-5) had a quick answer right out of halftime.
With the wind now at Central's back, senior Lauren Wells broke free and kicked a ball right toward Mid-Buchanan goalie Mallie Lieffring.
It appeared Lieffring had the stop, but as she fell to try and save it, the momentum carried the ball just across the goal line, tying the match at 1-1 with 37:23 left in regulation.
Mid-Buchanan had to simply survive and fend off numerous attacks from Central for the time that remained. The Indians had six shots-on-goal and seven corner kicks in the second half alone.
But, after Central tied the match, the Dragons managed to keep it scoreless until the end of regulation. Eight total saves from Lieffring was a big part of that.
"Our defense played so good," Thornton said. "They were tough, they were quick, they guarded (Lauren Wells) well. Mallie is a great goalie. She works hard in practice. She's amazing."
The two, 10-minute overtime periods featured a lot of jostling in the midfield and possession changing hands multiple times.
Mid-Buchanan striker Emily Parrott had a couple of solid looks at what would've been the winning goal, but Central goalie and Park University signee Danielle Burg had three critical stops in OT. She stopped another big shot from Mid-Buch's Kenna Hallquist in the second OT as well.
When penalty kicks started, it seemed like Mid-Buchanan was going to run away with it. Parrott, Hallquist and Mia Kirschner each buried their attempts consecutively, and Central missed their first shot.
Still, both teams went 4-for-5 through the first round of PKs. After Thornton's successful shot put Mid-Buchanan back in front, Central's Mia Scheidler tried to tie it back up. Her kick, however, sailed over the crossbar and the Dragons held on in the sudden death round.
Mid-Buchanan is now 2-0 in overtime matches this season, and now 3-1 in their last four matches that have been decided by PKs. That trend dates back to last season.
Despite tough road losses to Class 3 Ursuline and undefeated Maryville earlier this month, Burkart-Beers believes those early-season challenges only better prepared the Dragons to face not only Central, but the rest of the 2023 schedule.
"We're hungry and we want to get back to where we were," she said, "but we know the only way we do that is we go out there and we compete against some of the best. Doing that early will allow us to see what we really need to work on when it comes time at the end of the season."
Mid-Buchanan heads to Moberly this weekend to take part in the Lady Spartan Invitational. Central is home to Platte County on Friday night at 6:30.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.