In a rematch of a game that took place on April 8, No. 12 Elkhorn defeated No. 5 Grand Island Northwest 2-1 for the second time this season. Sophomore captain, Ella Rodgers, scored the game-winning goal in her first game back from a one-game suspension for a red card.
With the game tied at the half, Elkhorn coach Danielle Anderson said the difference in the second was their possession and defense.
“I think (the difference) was just, we kept possession, played smart defensively and their chances weren’t as quality as they probably could have been,” Anderson said. “But, they played a heck of a game and it was a battle to the end.”
The game was played in probably the hottest conditions yet this spring. The weather was over 80 degrees and the sun was out for the entirety of the game.
“It was really hot and it’s hard playing 80 minutes and we don’t have many subs, so we just had to push through and dig deep, Rodgers said. “We knew this could be a season-ending game, so we gave it our all. “
Northwest started the game on the attack, pressuring Elkhorn for the opening two minutes before Molly Flynn went to work on the counterattack for Elkhorn. Flynn, would slip the ball past sophomore goalie, Madelyn Kral for the opening goal in the third minute.
Elkhorn did not let up as they continued to overpower the Vikings over the next several minutes with shot after shot, controlling possession.
“We’ve seen them before, which is a good thing,” Anderson said. “So we had film on them. They have a heck of a team. They got a lot of seniors, they have a lot of experience. I think in the end it just came down to we put our chances away and they didn’t.”
Northwest started to fight back as the match neared the 20th minute, when the Vikings attempted their first shot. Then it was Guadalupe Sanchez who had the ball at midfield and threaded the needle to Evelyn Keller who evened the game for Northwest in the 23rd minute.
While the goal from Northwest would be the last of the half for either team. The Vikings continued to keep their foot on the gas until halftime, keeping pressure on Elkhorn heading into the second half with the game tied at one.
The second half resumed without Northwest captain and senior midfielder, Evelyn Poland, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the first half.
The Vikings still came out firing and even had a breakaway chance with Keller in open turf when Elkhorn’s Reagan Chard pulled her down. After a conversation between the referee and assistant referee they gave Chard a yellow card as they deemed her to not be the last defender.
“We knew that they were a talented team,” Rodgers said “They had a couple of good players on the attack. (We) knew we had to shut them down and we did for most of the game.”
Moments later, Elkhorn would earn a corner kick that would land on the head of Rodgers, who put the ball past Kral to give the Antlers the lead in the 55th minute.
“I was getting on the end of a lot of corners before that, and I just knew I had to put one in for my team so we could get ahead by one,” Rodgers said.
After the goal, Elkhorn kept Northwest in check to retain the lead and advance to the Class B state tournament in Omaha next week with the 2-1 victory. Northwest’s season ends with a record of 15-3, with two 2-1 losses against Elkhorn.
With Morrison Stadium now in sight, Anderson has her eyes on another upset.
“I mean, an upset can happen, right?” Anderson said. “We’ve seen Gretna East once this year at the beginning. We’ve watched them throughout the year, so it’ll be good to see them again.”
Elijah Moser is a contributor for Nebraska Soccer Talk, currently studying Sports Communication and Journalism at the University of Nebraska – Kearney.