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Demons prevail in thriller
Washington girls soccer team beats Mt. Pleasant in 7th-straight OT game
WASHINGTON — One of the wildest streaks in high school soccer continued on Thursday evening. The Washington and Mt. Pleasant girls soccer teams, which had played in a ridiculous six-straight overtime games remarkably made it seven.
For the first time in the streak, the game went past double overtime as Washington held off Mt. Pleasant 3-1 in a shootout after a 2-2 deadlock in regulation.
“As always, Mt. Pleasant is a good team,” said Washington head coach Mason Quigley. “It's a tough game and very evenly matched for both teams.”
The shootout saw a young hero arise for the Demons, as freshman goalkeeper Aleigha Medley made three diving saves on Mt. Pleasant shooters to anchor Washington to a rivalry win.
“She's awesome,” Quigley said. “She's played goalie in her other years growing up, and so it's been awesome to see her flourish here now.”
Medley’s run of saves helped the Demons win their fourth game in the last six tries against the Panthers.
“I was really nervous, and it just felt so great to block all of those,” Medley said. “Everyone was so encouraging.”
Medley’s final save of the night sent the Demon bench into a frenzy, as the Washington players rushed the net to mob their first-year keeper.
“I just saw everyone running at me,” Medley said. “I almost passed out because I was so shocked about what happened.”
It was Mt. Pleasant that had the advantage at halftime. With leading scorer Elly Manning on the bench with an injury, Charice Auwerda stepped up with an early goal. Washington’s Angeline Anderson tied the game up a little later in the half with a goal of her own.
With just 1 minute, 33 seconds left in the first period, Tori Wilson sent one passed Medley to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. That advantage held until just under 11 minutes left in regulation.
Ruby Witthoft had the equalizer for the Demons. She found room in front of the net and sent one past Mt. Pleasant keeper Eli Heaton to knot things up at 2-2.
Heaton would save the game for the Panthers in the first overtime period. Witthoft had a one-on-one as time ticked down in the first extra period, but Heaton’s leaping save kept the score tied.
Not only have the Demons and Panthers now played seven-straight overtime games, but the two teams have played a combined 10 overtimes over that time period. The last game between the two that ended in regulation was in 2018.
Washington (4-0, 1-0) will continue the Southeast Conference schedule with a road game at Fort Madison (1-1, 1-0) on Monday. Mt. Pleasant (2-1, 0-1) will host Keokuk (0-3, 0-1).
