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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2016)
PAGE2A14,2KEIZERTIMES,2OCTOBER228,22016 Lady Celts play fi nal home game By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Kayla Evans was fi ght- ing back tears before her last home soccer game at McNary. But afterwards she couldn’t stop smiling as the Lady Celt- ics earned themselves a state play-in game with a 1-1 tie against South Salem on Thursday, Oct. 20. “I’ve played with some of these girls since I was six and it’s just an emotional thing thinking after 12 years play- ing with them that this is our last home game,” Evans said. “It just blows my mind. This day was just really important for me. We had a lot at stake. I think we performed well for how much pressure was on us.” The Lady Saxons scored their goal in the fi rst minute of the game. “Senior night is a vulner- able night,” McNary head We are Everything Except Overpriced Simple Cremation $795 coach AJ Nash said. “You’ve got a lot of emotions going into it and we kind of let our guard down. We goofed up in the beginning.” “In the fi rst few seconds when they scored my heart broke a little bit,” senior Abigail Smith said. “I just re- membered that we had lots of time to come back.” The Lady Celts shifted their formation to a 4-5-1 to put an additional player in the midfi eld. Their best chances to score came off set pieces. A corner kick in the 29 th minute hit the post. McNary lost Natalie Gon- zalez late in the fi rst half. The sophomore midfi elder had to be carted off the fi eld with an injury and didn’t return. Evans limped off the fi eld six minutes into the second half but re-entered eight min- utes later. Sophomore Anita Lao tried to head in a corner kick from sophomore Gina Mun- guia in the 58 th minute but couldn’t get a direct strike on the ball. But the Lady Celts got KEIZERTIMES/Derek2Wiley McNary2seniors2Morgan2Sigurdson,2back,2left,2Katelyn2Tallon,2Gabby2Schmit,2Tania2Calderon,2Isabella2Heath,2Kayla2Evans,2Scarlett2 Working,2Kolbie2Kopp,2front,2left,2Jenna2Candland,2Abi2Rodriguez2and2Abigail2Smith2were2honored2on2Thursday,2Oct.220.2 the equalizer it needed with 13:35 remaining when Mun- guia crossed the ball to soph- omore Abigail Hawley, who one-touched it to the far post, past the goalkeeper and into the net. “It was so crazy,” Haw- ley said of the tying goal. “I love celebrating with all of my teammates afterwards. It’s such a great feeling. I was re- ally playing for the seniors. I wanted them to have a good last game.” The celebration included a big hug from Evans. “I didn’t even say anything, I was just screaming,” Evans said. “I was so happy. Just hav- ing a shot like that in so much traffi c and for her to get it far post on the ground clean past the keeper was amazing. I was so ecstatic.” Before the game, McNary honored its 11 seniors, who were sophomores when Nash became head coach in 2014. “They’ve carried us where we are,” Nash said. “They bought in. I would commend tonight’s result and the results in big games on the backs of the seniors. There’s only so much coaches can do. Results in big games are due to the leadership on the fi eld and the seniors were our leader- 54TH ANNUAL Inexpensive Burial and Funeral Options Holiday Fair Pre-Planning Available POLK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS IN RICKREALL Fri, Nov 4 – Sat, Nov 5 On-Site Crematory 130 EXHIBITORS ON DISPLAY! 9:00 am to 5:00 pm FREE ADMISSION • DONATIONS ACCEPTED PROCEEDS BENEFIT POLK COUNTY 4-H For more information, Call 503-623-8395 4365 RIVER RD N, KEIZER 503.393.7037 Se habla español SPONSORED BY: Polk County 4-H Leaders Association ship on the fi eld this year.” Smith was just happy to play another day. “I was so scared that this was going to be our last game together and I’m just so ex- cited to be able to play with these girls again and for as long as I can,” she said. “I’m just so pumped. The whole season I just really wanted to get to this point. Everything is so surreal right now. Senior year comes so fast and I don’t want it to end.” The play-in game was the Lady Celts fi rst since 2013. “I’m proud of the way they’ve fought,” Nash said. “This is the best game they’ve played all season, not the best fi nishing, but certainly the best all around focus, intensity, effort and if we carry this mo- mentum into the postseason, we should be able to earn that fi rst playoff game. “Hopefully, it’s the begin- ning of something special.We had a strong underclassmen contingent on the fi eld all night tonight. I’m not looking forward to next year yet but if we can compete at this level and we can learn to feel what it’s like to win, that’s step one.”