Published: November 04, 2009 11:45 pm      

Ramblers capture title with shootout victory

BERLIN — Kayla Thomas made it happen, and so did Katie Bango and the rest of the Windber girls soccer team.

Thomas scored the game-winning goal in a shootout as the Ramblers beat Conemaugh Township 3-2 in an epic match on Wednesday night to capture the program's first District 5 Class AA title.

Bango made four saves in the nerve-wracking shootout before Thomas – the ninth shooter for Windber – drilled the game-winner past Conemaugh Township keeper Emily Felton.

“I felt like crying,” Thomas, a sophomore, said of her game-winning goal. “I was really nervous at first, but I felt very good after we scored.”

Windber (16-4) which is just its third season as a program, was able to dethrone the two-time defending champion Indians (18-3).

It certainly didn’t start off well for the Ramblers.

Alyshia Brehm gave the Indians the lead in the second minute. She took a long throw from Alyssa Hoffman and fired a shot that bounced off of Bango’s hands and found the right side of the net. Julie Byer made it 2-0 in the 21st minute. The senior took a through ball from Hoffman an beat Bango to the right side of the net.

“We thought the first goal was going to be huge... and when they got their second goal, that’s a pretty big hole to come back from,” Windber coach John Wozny said.

A change in direction led to a vastly different outcome in the second half. Sara Bibby scored a little more than a minute into the second session. She took a corner from Amber Wozny and beat Felton to get the Ramblers back in the game.

Amber Wozny tied it 12 minutes later, burying a shot from in front of the net after Tess Weaver sent a pass up from the back line.

But the game was far from over at that point. Conemaugh Township had a great scoring opportunity with 6 ½ minutes remaining as Byer crossed a ball to Allyson Lonas, but Bango came out of the net to punch the ball away from the Indians midfielder.

Windber had an even better chance in the closing seconds of regulation. Amber Wozny's shot was stopped by Felton and the rebound was stopped by a sprawling defender just as the horn sounded.

But the drama was just beginning. Neither team could find the net in the first 15-minute overtime session, and the pace picked up in the second golden-goal session.

Bango made a save on a great bending shot from the left side by Hoffman, and Windber nearly won it six minutes later, but Amber Wozny's shot rang off the crossbar.

Both coaches picked five players for the shootout, and Byer, Cassie Pileski, Jessica Borosky and Kelsey Hostetler converted for the Indians. They were matched, shot for shot, by Windber's first three – Amber Wozny, Bibby and Aly Strapple.

The Ramblers fourth shooter was Bango – the keeper – and even she was caught off guard by her opportunity.

“I was confident in stopping the PKs, but when he told me I was shooting, however, I was a bit nervous,” she admitted.

Her shot bounced off the crossbar, giving Township a chance to win it with the next shooter. Bango made sure that didn’t happen, stopping Hoffman’s shot with a quick step to her right.

“I knew how to play my game,” Bango said. “I wasn't going to let the crowd influence me. I just let it happen. Our slogan was “make it happen.” I made it happen.”

Tonya Bibby scored on Windber’s next shot to send it to the second round of shootout, in which a goal by one team and a miss by the other would win the district title. But neither team could convert.

Bango made three saves and had one hit the crossbar while Felton made two stops and had a third sail over the net.

“I’ve been in shootouts before in tournaments, but never in high school. People got their money's worth, that's for sure,” Coach Wozny said.