Burlington Williams turned the tables on the Fike High girls soccer team in the final minutes.
After the Lady Demons scored two goals in a minute during the first half, the visiting Lady Bulldogs scored three goals in less than three minutes during the final five minutes of Fike's 4-2 season-ending loss Wednesday in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A state playoffs.
"They did to us what we did to them," Lady Demons head coach Toni Varacchi said. "It's a tough way to go out. But that score 4-2 keeps appearing this year. It ended that way with the boys and the girls."
Fike finished the season at 15-6-2 with its third straight NEW 6 Conference regular season and tournament crowns.
But, just like last season, the Lady Demons' season ended with a late comeback against Williams (17-3-1), the top team from the Mid-State Conference, which will face Western Guilford in the sectional final.
"We thought we had it all together," Fike senior defender Kate Woodard said, "and then we just had a lapse and they took over and capitalized on it. There was nothing we could really do."
With just more than five minutes left, on a cross in front of the Lady Demons' goal, the Lady Bulldogs' Michelle Akins tied the game 2-2, appearing to get a piece of the ball as she met goalkeeper Sarah Dillard right as she went up for it.
Then, just a minute later, Helen Powell worked free of her defender near the right corner, found space and fired a shot to the far side, putting Fike behind for the first time since 15 minutes left in the first half.
"I guess we just lost our marks or something," Fike senior midfielder Sarah Sallenger said. "I think, when they scored the first one, we were just like (gasp), and then, bam!"
"We just lost composure," Woodard added.
Just a minute and a half later, with 2:30 left, Williams iced it with a centering pass that deflected off a Lady Demons defender and found the net.
"Whenever a team scores, the next five minutes is the most dangerous time," Lady Bulldogs head coach Dennis Deutschle said. "You catch them a little bit off-guard, and we just capitalized on it."
But for a span of nearly 50 minutes, Fike held the lead, albeit just by one goal.
After falling behind with 17:10 left in the first half on Noell McCain's redirection goal on a nice pass from Jen Bass to the top of the box, the Lady Demons bounced back with two quick ones.
Junior Tramicka James blazed downfield and into the box, where she was taken down by a Williams defender. That set up freshman forward Beth Hanson for a penalty kick, which she drilled into the left side of the net with 14:40 remaining.
Almost exactly a minute later, James raced downfield again, fighting for a bouncing ball over the Williams defenders. Taking the ball on the bounce, she broke in alone on goal and scored.
Heading into halftime, the Lady Demons' confidence rose as they took their offense to the Lady Bulldogs. But once Williams reestablished its life-zapping, ball-control offense, Fike had to hunker down defensively and try to spring forward when the opportunity arose.
That gave Williams a 22-7 shot advantage for the game. But as the Lady Bulldogs pounded away, they just couldn't find the net.
"It was very frustrating," Deutschle said. "We knew we had to move their keeper around with crossing shots because, if you put it directly on her, she's going to stop it.
"That's how we scored on her -- move her around and redirect. When it works, it's gorgeous; when it doesn't, it's frustrating."
Defensively, Fike played solidly in front of Dillard, who finished with 10 saves -- eight more than Williams' Tina Black. But, the Lady Demons just couldn't weather Williams' final push.
"I think we played real well 95 percent of the game," Varacchi said. "But that's the game of soccer. That's all it takes, just couple minutes here, a couple minutes there."
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