Howell North Falls To Troy In PK Heartbreaker

It didn’t take long for the action to get started at Francis Howell North High on Thursday night, as the Knights hosted rival Troy Buchanan High in an important Gateway Athletic Conference girls soccer game for the two schools.

The crisp passing attacks and fierce defense both teams planned to exhibit began almost on the opening faceoff.

But it still took more than regulation play, two overtimes, a full penalty-kick session, and nearly three hours for the Knights and Trojans to decide who was the better team on Thursday.

And thanks to a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks, and a 2-1 edge on the scoreboard, it was visiting Troy Buchanan that earned itself the win.

“I’m happy with our intensity,” Howell North head coach Mark Olwig said. “We have a bunch of great girls that always come to play. But I think they know, and we know, that we have to step up our level of play, not just the intensity.”

The defeat proved a bitter pill to swallow for the Knights, who controlled play for most of the night, but couldn’t manage more than one score against Troy’s difficult-to-crack defense.

That one goal came late in the first half, when junior Megan Frkovic blasted home her sixth goal of the season, on a shot the blew past Troy’s Tiffany Hazelwonder to put Howell North on the board.

Troy actually opened the scoring when GAC South second-leading scorer Hunter Wagoner banged in a rebound shot to give her team the lead.

“We started out very slow in both halves,” Olwig said. “But I thought we did enough to try to get some opportunities to score and win the game.”

And Howell North had several spine-tingling chances late in regulation, and in the overtimes, to possibly win the game.

Junior Libby Bernard narrowly missed a chance with 4:45 left in regulation. Senior Sarah Peth and junior Nicole Massarand each saw Troy’s Hazelwonder knock down shot attempts in overtime.

And senior Kelsey Fouch, who assisted on Frkovic’s score, had two shots in OT slide just past the post, as Howell North tried desperately to end the game.

Eventually the game went to a penalty-kick period, where both teams would get five chances to take a shot against the other team’s goalkeeper, with the team scoring the most times earning the victory.

Troy scored on four of its five attempts, and Howell North answered with a miss by Fouch, and scores by Peth, Frkovic, and Massarand.

That 4-3 deficit set up a final dramatic attempt by sophomore defender Hali Long.

Hazelwonder, a sophomore herself, tried to psych out her fellow 10th grader by bouncing around the net and telling herself she was going to make the save.

But Long wasn’t phased, as she blasted a quick shot toward the roof of the goal that Hazelwonder had no chance at stopping.

Unfortunately for the Knights, Long’s blast banged off the crossbar for no goal, giving Troy a victory both teams had fought so long and hard for all night.

“You’ve got to end the game somehow,” Olwig said. “And I like the idea that you want a winner because you don’t want a zillion ties. But it is a tough way to lose. I’m hoping it’s a character builder for the players.”

Howell North will find out pretty quickly how much character Thursday’s loss might’ve built, as it’ll be back in action on at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 25, hosting Cor Jesu Academy.

The 9-3 Knights have two other home games next week, on Tuesday, April 26, they’ll host Lafayette High, and on Thursday, April 28, it’ll be Parkway West that comes for a visit.

Those games are also slated for 6:30 p.m. faceoffs.