First Half Score: 1-0
31:57 CBE - Mia Forney (Kiera Sleicher)

Second Half Score: 1-1
38:59 WCH Goal

OT Score: 2-1
13:20 CBE - Mia Forney (Taylor Roumy)

JN Comments:Incredibly proud of our group for seeing this one through. We drew Henderson in Round 2 last year and they gave us a game and this one was no different. They’re very well coached, they make good adjustments, and their kids play hard. That said, we probably made this one harder than it needed to be, but at this point in the season, it’s all about finding a way through and we did that.

We started strong and found some real success playing through Taylor Roumy’s side early. Around the 10th minute, Taylor earned us a corner after a blocked cross. Kiera dropped a perfect ball in, and Mia lost her mark, rose up, and made great contact with her head to give us the early lead.

For much of the rest of the first half, we struggled to progress the ball forward as Henderson sat off and compacted the middle.

In the second half, we wanted to push the tempo, but that plan got fast-tracked after we gave up a goal against the run of play. Credit to our girls, they responded immediately, spent most of the next 35 minutes in the final third, and created four or five high-quality chances but couldn't find the back of the net.

When you create that many chances without scoring, things can get tense and frustrating. But our kids kept their composure, and within 90 seconds of overtime, Taylor created some separation from her defender, got her head up, and ripped a shot off the crossbar that bounced down and hit the post. Mia stayed alert, hunted the rebound, and buried it to finish the game.

Props

We put in a great effort to get this game over the line, and our girls got what they deserved. Mia and Taylor were excellent tonight despite the coverage they drew. Quinn Reilley gave us great minutes off the bench, Ella Roumy had a strong second half, and Kiera Sleicher was stellar throughout. Out of the back, Addie Langlois was decisive and did a great job joining the attack.

All in all, this was a true team win and the group’s looking forward to another run against South on Saturday.