Wilson beats Central York in penalty kicks in girls soccer - Reading Eagle

Less than four minutes away from having the season come to an abrupt end, Wilson sophomore Elizabeth Estrada knew she had to do something.

But what she accomplished surprised her and even left longtime Bulldogs coach Tim Fick "dumbfounded" Saturday in a District 3 Class 4A girls soccer quarterfinal game at George Mack Stadium.

Estrada booted a corner kick directly into the goal, bending it just inside the far post, with 3:45 left in regulation and third-seeded Wilson eventually survived for a 2-1 (3-2 penalty kicks) win over sixth-seeded Central York.

"It just kind of happened," Estrada said. "I haven't done it very often. It wasn't meant to be like that. All of a sudden it just curled in. I was really happy."

So were the Bulldogs (19-4), who were able to fend off elimination and advance to the semifinals Tuesday to face second-seeded Hempfield, which also had to go to penalty kicks to defeat No. 7 Manheim Township.

Wilson's hopes of advancing looked bleak when Central York (16-4-1) broke a scoreless tie with just 11:42 left when Sara Crouse netted a shot off a scramble in front of the goal.

Estrada gave the Bulldogs a second chance with the kind of goal even soccer veterans don't see too often.

"You watch enough games and every once in a while you'll see it," Fick said. "That one just came in with a little more curve on it the way she hit it. I think it caught everybody off guard. I'm still dumbfounded by it."

The teams battled through a pair of scoreless 15-minute overtimes before the outcome was decided by penalty kicks.

Central York appeared to have an advantage there, as well, with junior goalie Morgan Wood, who has committed to attend William & Mary.

But Estrada, Kayla Pennington and Natalee Vicari netted three of Wilson's first four PKs to give Wilson a 3-2 lead.

Wilson sophomore Alexis Solt, a first-year starter, stepped up to stop Central York's final two shots to send the Bulldogs streaming onto the field elated to know they have at least two more games left in the season.

"We knew it was going to be a challenge, we weren't going to get many chances," Fick said.

Neither team had a lot of chances as the defenses limited shot attempts by their opponents. Wilson finished with a 6-5 edge in shots. Wood made five saves to four for Solt.

"To have an elimination game go to PKs - we've been on the wrong side of that as well - and it's really hard to stomach that," Fick said. "It's not a measure of the game, it's not a measure of the teams. I really feel for them."

Contact Brian Rippey: 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.