By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
She was part nervous, part perplexed.
Kickapoo’s Harlow Klein was about to take a game-deciding penalty kick. The Class 4, District 10 championship game hung in the balance.
“I saw I was the last (PK) taker and I was like, ‘No way, I can’t do this. I’m not going to do this,’” said Klein, a junior defender. “Then I thought, ‘What is (coach) thinking? He’s crazy.’
“I walked up there, told myself to breathe and thought, ‘You do this at practice every day. You can do this.’”
She did it.
Klein’s PK gave Kickapoo a 1-1 (4-3 PKs) victory against Ozark on Thursday night. Teammates sprinted from midfield to mob Klein in celebration as the Chiefs claimed their second straight district title.
Who needs confidence?
“If you talk to all of those girls, they don’t have any confidence for whatever reason,” said Chiefs coach Phil Hodge. “We expect a lot of them and have high expectations. They have high expectations of their selves.
“We picked those five for a reason. Even when we said (Klein’s) name, she was like, ‘Huh?’ But look what she did. We believe in her. And she believes in herself, too. Heck of a shot.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Kickapoo got a co-hero effort from freshman goalkeeper Chloe Young. She turned away two Ozark attempts during the PK session.
Kickapoo (15-8-1 overall) hosts Rock Bridge (17-5-1 overall) in a Class 4 sectional matchup on Tuesday, May 22. The Bruins beat Jefferson City 2-1 Thursday night for the District 9 title.
Rock Bridge won 2-1 at Kickapoo on March 30.
After graduating a stellar 2017 senior class, the 2018 Chiefs have earned the program’s first conference title in 13 years and 16th district title overall.
“This is a new group,” Hodge said. “We tell them that every season. Every year, you get a chance to leave your mark.”
Ozark was seeking its first district championship since 2008.
“I’ve been on both sides. It’s tough,” said Ozark coach Chris Shull. “I feel bad, obviously, for the girls. I wanted to see them pull it through. I’m very proud of them.”
Kickapoo nearly won the match late in the second overtime session. Sophomore Jalyn McClean, returning from a recent injury, broke free from the Ozark backline for a one-on-one with goalkeeper Addy Lasley. Lasley made the save.
“You could kind of tell everyone was getting tired in overtime,” Klein said. “You had to step up because if you let it go, then you’re done.”
In the PK session, Young turned away Ozark’s final two attempts. Lasley came up with a stop on Kickapoo’s third attempt, briefly giving the Tigers a 3-2 advantage.
Kickapoo made its final two PKs, on the feet of Maddie McClain and Klein.
“At the end of every practice, we take our time and take our PKs,” Klein said. “We work on them and practice them every day.”
Added Hodge: “Nerves of steel. (Klein) stepped up and buried it. Great shot.”
Mizzou commit Jadyn Easley put Ozark ahead 1-0 in the 48th minute. Easley won possession near the right hashes, spun and fired a long shot toward the far post from about 20 yards out.
“We tried to do a couple of different things defensively with her and look what she did: she still made a play,” Hodge said. “Great player. You tip your hat to her.”
Kickapoo got the equalizer in the 62nd minute. A corner kick led to a scrum around the net. Amid a mass of bodies, Chiefs sophomore Ellie Miller scored.
“Kickapoo pressures you and saturates parts of the field,” Shull said. “I thought we did a decent job of eliminating that and decreasing that. We just came up short.”
