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Cougars survive

Group AA girls soccer semifinals: Courtland 1, Hidden Valley 1 (Courtland advances 5-4 on penalty kicks)

By ADAM HIMMELSBACH

Date published: 6/11/2005

RADFORD--As her teammates joyously hugged parents and siblings and friends, the amazing goalie sat on a small brick wall beneath the tower of bleachers, clutching her back and writhing in pain.

Her father stood close by, more proud than concerned, because he knew his baby girl was tough as ever.

Kathleen Underwood had just finished tossing her body around the goal box like a kid belly-flopping into a pool. Each time she hit the ground during the Courtland girls soccer team's Group AA semifinal against Hidden Valley, she cringed.

But she kept diving onto the Radford University field. That's what you do in penalty-kick shootouts. That's what you do when you've been a backup goalie all season, and get this one shot on this one stage that happens to be as big as they come.

After the game trudged through regulation, four overtimes and five rounds of penalty kicks, Underwood sprawled to her right on a penalty kick by Kelsey Ballard. She punched the ball, and it skipped off the goal post and out of trouble.

Suddenly, the Cougars had control of the sudden-death shootout. They had a chance to win.

Stacy Fletcher calmly popped a shot to the low left side. The ball was deflected by Hidden Valley keeper Erika Troia, but it caught the inside of the post and skipped to the back of the net, giving Courtland a 5-4 victory.

The Cougars (16-5-3) will face Stone Bridge today at 1 p.m. in the Group AA state final.

"Kathleen was absolutely amazing," said Courtland coach Dennis Berry, who turned his back to the entire shootout out of superstition. "I had so much confidence in her, and a game like this gives her so much confidence in herself."

Courtland's regular goalkeeper, Kerri Butler, is in New Jersey this weekend for an Olympic Development Program soccer tournament. Early this week, Underwood found out she would be starting in net. She called her personal goalkeeping coach, and on Wednesday the two spent two hours together working on mechanics.

Underwood, who normally starts on defense, injured her lower back while making a tackle two weeks ago. Late in yesterday's game, the pain was almost too much for the junior to take.

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Date published: 6/11/2005