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Gilliam was just about to take a break from watching the match to huddle with his assistant coaches and decide on a shootout roster when Trojans defender Megan Pelland made sure that wasn’t necessary.
Pelland knocked in a loose ball eight minutes into overtime as Trinity beat Viterbo 1-0 in an NAIA Region VII tournament quarterfinal game at the Viterbo University Outdoor Athletic Complex.
“I told the girls that overtime is about inches — being three inches to the left or right,” Gilliam said. “It’s such a fine line this time of year.”
Trinity (16-5) plays top-seeded St. Xavier (17-3) on Friday.
The Trojans, who averaged 3.4 goals per game this season, went into the match knowing they probably wouldn’t be able to light up the scoreboard against the V-Hawks (11-5-2).
“We knew it was going to be a one-goal game, it wasn’t going to be 5-0 or anything like that,” Pelland said.
Pelland made no apologies for her goal, which didn’t earn any style points but was enough to win the 98-minute defensive battle.
The junior crashed in from her defensive position after Nicole Collins and Ashleigh Dellos, the Trojans’ two leading scorers, almost connected in front of the net. But the ball bounced loose in front of goalkeeper Charlotte Large and Pelland deflected it in off her chest.
“I just ran through the ball,” Pelland said. “A goal’s a goal, it doesn’t have to be pretty.”
Viterbo coach Will Lemke said his team executed its game plan to near perfection. He had hoped for some early scoring chances, which the V-Hawks got, and airtight defense, which they also got until a brief lapse in overtime.
In the first 10 minutes of the game, Sam Anderson and Ashley Sorenson both missed on breakaways. Trinity didn’t make the same mistake a third time.
“We needed to capitalize on those,” Lemke said. “We were able to break their defense down and we just couldn’t quite finish.”
Lemke said he expects his team to fight for a third straight conference title next season. The V-Hawks will lose three players, including Large, to graduation.
“Every year, we have changes and every year we have adapted to them and I’m proud of that,” Lemke said. “The key is to carry our momentum into the offseason and keep getting better.”
Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net
