Rain or shine, it didn’t matter to the Oakville Tigers girls’ soccer team.
Lindbergh was next on the list as soon as the Tigers won the Class 4 District 1 opener against Fox on May 11.
“We were motivated to win, rain or shine,” Oakville head coach Sarah Guenther said.
Once again, on May 14, the Tigers found themselves in a post-season overtime battle, this time with their rival, the Lindbergh Flyers.
While it took multiple overtimes and penalty kicks for the Tigers to win the first-round game, Aubree Pikul and Ashley Forbes ensured this game didn’t go that long. The duo combined for the game-winning goal in the Tigers’ 2-1 win.
As the rain fell with five minutes to go in the first overtime, conditions became sloppy, but the Tigers had one last push. Pikul fought through two defenders, playing a perfect ball to Forbes, who had a breakaway.
“She made the perfect first touch to goal and blasted it in the back of the net getting the golden goal,” Guenther said. “It was awesome.”
Alivia Schnur scored early in the first half for Oakville, her sixth goal of the season. Forbes assisted on the goal, as Schnur beat the Lindbergh goalkeeper.
With the victory, the Tigers improved to 14-8 on the season, while Lindbergh’s season ended with a record of 9-13.
The 2-1 win sent Oakville to the district final on May 16 against Jackson. The Tigers ultimately fell to the Indians 1-0. They were a team Oakville had on its radar for a while.
“Playing Jackson in districts has been what has been on the minds of the girls this entire season,” Guenther said. “This is their main goal, to play them and beat them. I have never seen a team more motivated.”
Oakville faced Jackson earlier in the season, falling 1-0. Guenther said the game was a bit deceiving.
“We played Jackson on a Saturday at noon during an extremely warm day after playing three games in a row,” she said. “That was not our true team. We have evolved tremendously since then. Everything will be different.”
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