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Caden Ball -
Mason Thornhill -
Abe Covarrubias -
JJ Gonzalez
A game that began 16 days earlier finished with maroon-clad players rushing the field in celebration.
The Edmond Memorial boys’ soccer team clinched a playoff spot Thursday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium by defeating Union 4-3 in extra time.
Memorial (8-4 overall, 5-2 6A-3) will finish either second or third in the district depending on results elsewhere.
Union (9-5, 4-3) still has a chance to qualify but no longer has control over its fate.
Memorial sophomore Lawson Ford won the match with his second goal of the day. With 5:12 remaining in overtime, he smashed the ball into the back right corner of the Union net, launching his teammates into a frenzy.
“I was running down the left, it was off the counterattack,” Ford said. “I saw Abe (Covarrubias) with the ball, and I just screamed for his name. Once I got the ball, I just took a touch inside and shot, and hoped for the best, really.”
The Bulldogs thought they had won the game two minutes earlier when sophomore Kabl Kahkesh put the ball into the net, but he was called offside. Memorial dominated the extra period and did not allow Union any chances to score.
Memorial coach Jake Hemphill, out of breath, said Ford was the player of the game.
“He’s playing on an ankle injury,” Hemphill said. “I told him before the game, I said, he’s one of my favorites, I said, ‘Get me a goal.’ Sucker got me two. Player of the game, and I about killed myself celebrating.”
Kahkesh had scored with 12:23 to play in the second half to give Memorial a 3-2 lead, but Union junior Cannon Marth equalized five minutes later with a header from senior Kyle Easley’s cross.
The game began April 13, but severe weather caused the game to be postponed with 4:40 to play in the first half and the score tied at 1. Memorial junior Sam Fett and Union senior Jason Duron scored the goals.
Hemphill said it was hard to prepare for such an unusual situation.
“We just came together,” Hemphill said. “We knew we had four minutes to go into the wind, and then we had the wind the second half. So, our mindset was, play defensively for four minutes, and then pound them the second half, and it worked.”
Memorial now awaits the results of Sand Spring’s final two regular season games. If the Sandites win both, Memorial finishes third in the district. If Sand Springs loses either game, Memorial will finish second and host a first round game.