Linnea Clapinski netted the game-winning goal in overtime to give Dos Pueblos girls lacrosse an 8-7 victory over Glendale in the CIF-SS Div. 3 Quarterfinals on Tuesday at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
The Chargers, who overcame a 3-0 deficit to earn Tuesday’s win, will remain at home and host Oaks Christian on Friday at 5 p.m. for the CIF-SS Div. 3 Semifinals.
“I am so happy for this team and so happy for our seniors,” Dos Pueblos head coach Dan Feldhaus said. “I really think that we have committed to each other. I really feel like we have become a family.
“The hard work we’ve put in… we were working hard in September, we were showing up for the fall workouts and it’s paying off.”
After a tightly contested regulation and some drama down the stretch of the fourth, both teams found themselves tied at 7-7 to set up a golden-goal overtime.
Glendale won the opening draw, but quickly turned the ball over to Dos Pueblos. Sophie Dent took possession of the ball and charged down the right sideline to put the Chargers on the attack.
A few seconds later, the Nitros came away with a steal and immediately turned upfield. However, the ball was then jarred loose and scooped up by Dos Pueblos’ Eloise Shea.
Shea then looked up and saw a wide-open Clapinski, who turned and fired the game-winning goal into the back of the net to clinch the victory and send the Dos Pueblos faithful into a frenzy.
“I think it’s very easy to look at this as my goal, my play that I played and my shot that I scored, but I think this is every single one of us,” Clapinski said. “I think the way that we talk to each other, see each other on the field, sense each other and work so well together is what made that goal.
“It was Stella Lawler in goal, Eloise Shea with the ground ball, Chloe (Miller) and Jackie (Carbajal) with the checks and Reagan (Arnold) with her goals. It was every single person who was on that field today that made that goal happen.”
The Nitros opened the scoring with a methodical opening possession, winning the draw and holding the ball until they scored at the 9:46 mark to take a 1-0 lead.
That proved to be the theme of a low-scoring first quarter, as Glendale dominated the time of possession but Dos Pueblos continued to turn the visitors away.
Four saves by Stella Lawler, including an 8-meter stop, and several Charger takeaways across the defense kept the score at 1-0 heading into the second.
Glendale continued its slow style of play to open the second quarter and it resulted in two more goals to extend the lead to 3-0 with 7:54 left in the half.
Dos Pueblos finally got on the board at the 6:04 mark when Linnea Clapinski charged through the middle of the defense, made a defender miss and found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Chargers got three more shots off in the quarter, but neither found the net to keep the Glendale lead at 3-1 at halftime.
Dos Pueblos found a lot more success on the offensive end coming out of the half, firing three straight shots to begin the half.
“After halftime, we were resolute on having a good third quarter,” Feldhaus said. “We’ve had a lot of games where we had strong third quarters and it showed, and it set the tone.”
The offensive pressure eventually broke through on a free-shot goal by Reagan Arnold to bring the score to 3-2 with 7:43 on the clock.
Clapinski then drew a penalty of her own just over a minute later and deposited her shot past the goalkeeper to even the score at 3-3.
Following a pair of stopped penalty shots by Dos Pueblos, Glendale regained the lead at 4-3 with 3:20 left in the quarter on a fast break goal.
That score seemed like it would hold heading into the fourth as the Chargers came up with a stop with less than 30 seconds left in the third.
However, Dos Pueblos moved the ball up the field until it found Arnold, who collected and fired a shot from 35 yards out that skipped past the Glendale goalie and into the net to tie the game at 4-4 with one quarter to play.
The Chargers carried that momentum into the fourth, winning the opening draw and finding Clapinski, who made a move from the right side and scored her third goal of the day to take a 5-4 lead.
However, the Nitros responded just 30 seconds later with a goal of their own to even the game back up at 5-5 with 10:54 to play.
After some more back-and-forth play, Dos Pueblos jumped back in front when Eloise Shea dished it off to a cutting Arnold, who scored with 5:55 on the clock.
Once again Glendale punched right back just over a minute later, working the ball inside and scoring to make it 6-6.
That score held for the next few minutes until the Nitros were called for an offensive foul with one minute on the clock to give the ball to Dos Pueblos.
The Chargers took advantage of the foul as Shea raced down the right side of the field and found Clapinski settled in the middle of the defense. Clapinski received the pass and scored the go-ahead goal with 34 seconds left.
“Linnea stepped up and took advantage of what they were offering and was able to sink it in the goal, and it was just clutch,” Feldhaus said.
However, Glendale responded as it had all throughout the fourth quarter, scoring on a free shot with 16 seconds left to tie the game at 7-7.
The Nitros won the ensuing faceoff, but Dos Pueblos came up with a stop to send the game into overtime and set up the Charger dramatics.
“We knew this game was going to be tight,” Feldhaus said. “We knew they were a good team and they’re well coached… We were going to have to play a pretty solid game, and I think we did.”