By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
Like a defenseless heavyweight boxer with an iron jaw, D.H. Conley goalie Callie Haithcock and the rest of the Vikings’ defense took shot after shot from the Washington soccer team, but held its ground for nearly 80 minutes of regulation play and almost 10 minutes of overtime. However, the Pam Pack’s Blaine Prescott was able to delivere a knockout blow.
With under five seconds left on the running time clock in the first period of overtime, Prescott fielded the ball in the middle of the field and delivered a 20-foot blast that bounced off the goal post and behind Haithcock to break the 0-0 stalemate and secure a Washington victory in its Coastal Conference opener.
After being stonewalled all game, forward Kati Howdy delivered the back-breaking goal in the second half of overtime to give the Pack a 2-0 win over the Vikings.
Led by the trio of Iris Cruz, Howdy and Prescott, the Pack kept pressure on Haithcock all game long, but the Vikings’ keeper refused to buckle.
After watching several squandered scoring opportunities, Kozuch said he was thrilled to see his team finally score.
The Pack controlled the ball for a majority of the game and, on the rare occasion it crossed the 50-yard-line, the Washington defenders were quick to gobble it up.
Defensemen Maddy Young, Brittany Banks, Sarah Hardison and Kiki Baily made sure that Washington goalie Ashley Crompton had an easy night.
Crompton delivered a shutout stopping a handful of shots, none being a real scoring threat.
Washington (4-0,1-0) will be back in action on Wednesday at home against South Central. The Pack will then play host to Edenton on Friday.