OKLAHOMA CITY — Inola girls soccer advanced to the semifinals for the first time in school history with one goal against Crossing Christian School.
That goal came from a free kick by Blakely Coltrane within the first 2 1/2 minutes and the Lady Longhorns won 1-0 in the Class 3A state quarterfinals Friday night.
“It's amazing,” coach Lacey Coltrane said after the game. “I'm very excited and I knew we could make it to the semifinals. We played well on both sides of the ball and I'm very happy for the girls.”
Despite Inola scoring early in the game, CCS struggled until the final whistle, as they attempted two corner kicks to tie the score in the final minute.
But the Lady Longhorns' defense was solid.
“The last few minutes were stressful,” Lacey Coltrane said. “I was hoping the girls would kick it out of the box, but they did it on the last corner kick.”
On Blakely Coltrane's free kick, she kicked the ball downwind and after a miscommunication for CCS to clear the ball, the ball rolled into the back of the net.
“The wind kept pushing the ball closer to the goal,” Blakely Coltrane said. “I hit it well, but luckily Crossings made a mistake and we were all excited when the ball went into the goal.”
The Lady Knights attacked hard in the first half, but Inola's defense held out, including a save from Hannah Tillotson on a CCS shot on goal. She made 13 total saves.
“I was stressed out about every save,” Tillotson said. “But I was very happy and excited to make the save because the save can make or break a game. My defense made my job easier, so I'm grateful for it.”
The Lady Longhorns earned a corner kick with four minutes left in the first half, but the Lady Knights held firm. CCS tried to counter-attack, but their open volley header missed completely.
After a counter-attack, CCS had possession, but Tillotson saved the shot on goal.
With less than two minutes remaining, Inola attempted a counterattack and Makia Barnett took a shot, but CCS goalkeeper Olivia Downing made a save. The Lady Longhorns led 1-0 at intermission.
In the second half, the Lady Knights were aggressive and took shots, but Inola kept making clearances. CCS then had a free kick but it was saved by Tillotson and she made a cherry pick save.
CCS won a free kick with 23 minutes remaining and Megan Channel almost scored, but it hit the crossbar.
Inola held the ball and with 15 minutes left Barnett took a shot but it went wide.
The Lady Knights had a shot with 12 minutes remaining, but Tillotson saved the shot again on goal.
She turned it around again when she made the save with four minutes left. CCS took two corner kicks in the last minute, but the Lady Longhorns' defense kept the ball out of the net.
Inola improved to 11-5 and is the only public school in Class 3A still playing girls soccer. They will play Community Christian on Tuesday.
The other semifinal game is between Cassady and Mount St. Mary. All three schools are in District 3A-2.
“We have to be disciplined,” Lacey Coltrane said. “Community Christian is very good offensively, so we have to win possession. We have a lot of firsts this season and we want to continue to break Inola's record. ”
